An anonymous tipster has told MacDailyNews that Apple will hold a special media event in late September that will discuss and/or announce the following. The information that the source provided, verbatim:
• MobileMe, iPhone, iPod Touch
– Enable disk use
– When enabled for disk use, iDisk folder accessible
– iDisk app
– Viewable formats can be opened, other formats grayed out
– Button to sync with MobileMe
– Photo syncing support via MobileMe
– October launch
• iTunes Unlimited
– 256 Kbps music; highest quality digital music subscription service ever
– 50% of U.S. store available for iTunes Unlimited at launch, U.S.-only launch
– Available through iTunes or retail box a la MobileMe, funds applied through iTunes gift cards cannot be used towards subscription purchase
– $129.99 stand-alone or $179.99 with MobileMe, current MobileMe subscribers can add iTunes Unlimited for $99.99
– One-year subscription period
– Current a la carte options unchanged
– When signed in to subscription account, “Buy” is “Get”
– “Download and Play throughout iTunes Unlimited Subscription” or “Buy and Keep”
– “Buy and Keep” option available for downloaded subscription songs, purchased version replaces subscription version
– Late October launch with iTunes 7.8
MacDailyNews Note: This is a rumor. Please treat it as such. We’ll bring you more information if and when it materializes. If this event does happen in September, we also would also expect Apple to debut new/updated iPod hardware for the Christmas shopping season.
MacDailyNews Take: As we’ve often said, Apple should offer an iTunes music subscription option if and when it makes business sense.
Subscription service will become more mainstream with Apple on board. at ~$9/month, it’s viable.
If I read this rumor correctly, not sure if I dig the 1 year lock-in, though. Would like to have the option of a one month trial.
NOW everyone will change their tune and say that subscriptions are cool now that STEVE is doing it.
Hypocrites (I see into future)
Very detailed info. Seems very likely, especially in combination with the expected new WiFi iPods (and existing iPhones) that can stream the new subscribtion streams…
This would be great! I hope it’s true. I’ve long wanted to subscribe to iTunes to find songs I could later *BUY*. I just hate buying some itunes songs to find out I don’t really like it.
Subscriptions, oh the first sign of change. SIGN ME UP for that free subscription service…..
I can wish!
Watch out Dell and the FORMER Apple guy, that BERG is a coming…… is the crows nest asleep? Or without those bi-noculars in the HMS DELL’s captians desk?
Watch out for popping rivets….
I would have expected an MDN-take saying that subscription-models will never work…
Rent more cowbell?
Count me out of any subscription service thank you.
Sounds like complete crap to me. Apple have said time and time again they don’t think the subscription option works, and the success (failure) of other subscription services show that.
Also, the iDisk / MobileMe / iPhone just doesn’t add up at all, from a technical level, or a usability level. Enabling “disk use” on an iPod is nothing to do with iDisk.
The first sounds interesting (disk-mode and OTA idisk) but I’m not interested in subscription music. Even if it is Apple doing it (whoop-tee-doo), I’m still not interested. Subscription is of the RIAA.
Because it mentioned subscriptions and didn’t mention laptops I know it’s not true.
subscription = complete and total crap. give me the 256 bit rate songs and no DRM, sure, but pay per year for songs over and over? no tnx k bai.
if that is all Apple can do to improve the iTMS, i will disappointed.
now if i can access my iDisk from my phone. ok, that will be useful!
I’ll gladly keep purchasing my music as I see fit. I don’t need yet another perpetual bill to add to my budget.
Yes, Steve Jobs said many, many times that people prefer to rent their movies and own their music, which doesn’t prevent him from offering movies for sale and music for rent. MDN’s take doesn’t dispute the fact that “business models that fly in the face of reason are doomed to failure”. This is why iTunes business model is founded on music for SALE.
That Real (Rhapsody) and Napster are still in business, after all these years offering subscriptions, says that a small fraction of the population might actually be interested in renting music. There is no reason why Apple should cede that market to inferior people. Let’s not forget; every single person who currently wants to subscribe to unlimited music CANNOT use an iPod. Therefore, Apple is not only losing several hundred thousand annual subscribers to the iTunes subscription service, it is also losing on several hundred thousand unsold iPods.
As for music subscription concept itself, a (somewhat reasonable) argument might be made for teenagers. When you’re a teen, you listen to your current teen music idols. Once you grow up, you become embarrased by your teen musical taste. As we know, teen is a pretty important demographic group for music labels. Allowing them to pay subscription while they’re teens for the music they’ll only listen for a few years would make some sense.
Ironically, Apple will rapidly take away market share from all those other subscription services and come to dominate that field as well.
And MDN’s take is still consistent: Apple should offer it IF, and only IF, it makes business sense. And today, it does. Anyone here who doesn’t like it can safely ignore it (just like I’ll be ignoring MobileMe for the time being). Those who’ve been waiting, looks like your wait may be coming to an end. Get ready to buy that iPod now.
Nope. Not me. 99 cents for a download that you keep and do with what you want…period.
If however it was $99.00 dollars a year for unlimited songs you get to keep and do with what you want then I would go for that.
If not, then 99 cents for one permanent download. I don’t care how cool Steve Jobs is. This one won’t fly.
@MadMac
You’re blasting Apple users based on a rumor? I don’t think we’re the hypocrites.
Fsck subscriptions for music. They need to give us a Netflix-like subscription for movies such as the one Daniel Eran Dilger laid out.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/12/07/how-apple-could-deliver-workable-itunes-rentals/
A lot of people are already renting music via satellite radio. Subscription iTunes would let you choose the music you like, instead of having someone feed it to you.
Subscriptions SUCK!!!! You keep paying for music you already paid for, over and over again. That’s why none of the others worked, people want to own there music and play it anytime they damn well feel like, and not have to check in with the music labels to get there permission. This is exactly what the music labels want everyone to do, pay over and over again for your music which you already have.
It doesn’t make sense now, and it doesn’t make sense EVER!!!!!
If Apple Offering a subscription Service will appease the music labels to the point of all the Music tracks in the iTunes store going DRM Free (when purchased), I say let their be a subscription music service with iTunes. While the number of subscribers will be small and will remain small at least it will give the music cartels what they’ve been dreaming of Subscription Music with iTunes. It also gives Apple the model to show the Movie Studios that a subscription movie rental service is possible too. And Buying customers should be happy too if all the DRM is gone off purchased tracks.
It might end up being a Win Win Win
Steve Jobs said it hiimself, people want to own there music, not rent it. So I believe this so called rumor will not materialize for real.
Well to be fair it sounds like it could be an improvement over your average subscription service by easily allowing you to permanently purchase wherever you see fit.
— When signed in to subscription account, “Buy” is “Get”
— “Download and Play throughout iTunes Unlimited Subscription” or “Buy and Keep”
— “Buy and Keep” option available for downloaded subscription songs, purchased version replaces subscription version
Could that be the revolutionary part of it or are most music subscription services already similar?
Seems like someone completely ignored my post. Let me argue again:
If you have a teenage child, you will buy them subscription, instead of having them buy every single Miley Cyrus song. Over the six or seven years before going to college, your teen would have evolved tastes and probably bought several thousand tracks from various artists. These would become embarrassment once they’re in college (more importantly, they’d get no iPod play anymore). And you’d be out several thousand $$$. If you had subscription for these seven years, you would have paid less than a thousand.
Subscription model will remain a very small segment of the general market. The point remains valid, though; right now, Apple cannot sell a SINGLE iPod to these people. If they only allowed subscription on iTunes, they could all buy iPods and be very happy.
And the most important thing: it will NOT affect any of you who have no intention of ever in their lives coming anywhere near music subscription.
John, I don’t know about you, but I spend well over $129 per year on music and have for more than 30 years. If a subscription service is $129 per year, allows me to get any and all the music I like and I can take it anywhere on my iPod, it seems like a good idea!