“For more than a year, Apple Computers Inc. enjoyed singular success selling songs exclusively to users of its iPod portable music player. Now, it’s got rival RealNetworks Inc. trying to lure iTunes customers away,” Alex Veiga writes for The Associated Press.
“Last month, Seattle-based RealNetworks fired the first shot at Apple, announcing that it had developed technology that allows songs purchased through its own online music services to be played on iPods. On Monday, the company said it would temporarily slash its price for song downloads to 49 cents – 50 cents less than iTunes,” Veiga writes.
“The promotion, which begins Tuesday, coincides with a series of print ads meant to show iPod users they have an alternative to Apple’s iTunes Music Store,” Veiga writes. “The ads [fetaure] an iPod-as-padlock with its lock in the open position and the tag line ‘Half the price of Apple. Welcome to freedom of choice.’ Despite all that, RealNetworks claims it’s not targeting Apple specifically, only pursuing its goal of making its service compatible with as many digital players as possible.”
Full article here.
The ‘iPod-as-padlock’ image is used in the so-called “Freedom of Music Choice” logo here.
Download link for Apple’s iTunes for Mac and Windows here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple has strongly cautioned Real and their customers that when they update their iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods. We’ll stick with the iTMS, thanks. The question is, will Windows users who are known to really, really like a “deal” do the same? And will they blame Real or Apple when their songs no longer work with their iPods and iPod minis?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
RealPlayer Music Store announces iPod harmony – July 26, 2004
Test of Real’s new Harmony Technology works with Apple’s iPod – July 27, 2004
BusinessWeek writer: Apple needs to firmly squelch Real’s Harmony – July 27, 2004
Apple ‘stunned’ that Real broke into iPod with ‘Harmony’ – July 29, 2004
Analyst: Apple must not ‘sound anti-consumer’ in the face of Real’s ‘Harmony’ – July 29, 2004
RealNetworks issues statement about Harmony Technology and ‘creating consumer choice’ – July 29, 2004
The Motley Fool: Real’s Harmony ‘is a slap in the face for Apple’ – July 29, 2004
Mac users shut out of Real’s Harmony hack? – July 30, 2004
Forbes writer: ‘bad vibes aren’t likely to stick to Apple’ over Real’s Harmony mess – July 30, 2004
RealNetwork’s CEO Glaser crashes Apple’s music party – July 30, 2004
RealNetworks launces ‘Freedom of Choice’ campaign with song downloads for 49 cents – August 17, 2004
Text of ‘Hey Apple, Don’t Break My iPod! Petition to Apple Computer’ – August 17, 2004
Rob Glaser interviewed about achieving harmony with Steve Jobs – August 17, 2004
Real’s online petition for music ‘freedom’ backfires bigtime – August 17, 2004
RealNetworks debuts replacement ‘freedom petition’ omitting comments – August 17, 2004
Has anyone actually bought a song from Real’s store? Even as a lark? Even for say a Dell DJ?
Windows users will probably do the way they always do: get the cheapo deal.
It is already amazing they actually are buying the iPod like mad without going for crappy WDM stuff at 50% of the price. This actually have surprised me.
For some the “you get what you pay for” is still a cryptic sentence.
Real Network is not specifically targeting Apple they just decided to use Apple name and the iPod that Apple so happened to build in their ad. But they are not targeting Apple at all.
and where is the Real music store? Not there for the casual surfer nor any explanation on how/where to access it.
They are losing already 80% of the potential customers…
it seems to me that Real is in a supernova status. One last big hurrah before it withers away.
at most they are targeting iPod users on Wintel PCs: Harmony does not work on Macs.
The choice is on the player first, then on the music you want to buy, then maybe on the provider of that particular track.
If it is on iTMS – and I get the best service there – why get it from another party that could not be there in one year, could decide they cannot keep up with iPod sw new releases (which should not come to as surprise to anyone as will break harmony), have a music store that is – urghh – mediocre at best.
Only for this limited promotion at 49c ?
There is a Russian site that *sells* music that play on the iPod at it is 49cents cheaper than the Real promotion. Do iPod users flock there? Hardly so and for a reason.
Retarded.
An alternative to the iTMS already exists. They are called CDs.
STFU, Real.
You only have to look at the comments on their petition to see how ardently their campaign is supported:
Real Petition
If it wasn’t for Windows users, the iPod would not be top dog. Fully 60 percent or more PC users buy the iPod. What articles continue to ignore is the fact that people don’t get their music JUST from iTMS or Real or Connect, Napster, etc. I would venture to guess that most people download music from their personal or friends CDs to iTunes and then to the iPod. Despite all the available download services, iTMS is the most used. Why? (If you have to answer that question you probably haven’t used it).
A correction of my above post. iPods for PC users sell more then iPods for Mac users. 60 or more percent of sales go to Windows users…
A lot of articles and the Harmony campaign suggest that the only way to put music on an iPod is from iTMS (and now also via Harmon). Of course this is simply untrue, but since when has the tech press been always “truthful” in these matters. Hey, even Wall Street analysts sometimes don’t understand this.
If their goal is to have their service compatible with as many different players as possible, wouldn’t they use wma instead of helix? Perhaps it should say that their goal is to have their service compatible with as many puchased players as possible.
when Apple finally updates the iPod software to lock Real out, they will be seen as proving Reals’ point of padlock: not having the freedom to choose. This is gonna be a marketing blunder for Apple. the last thing they want to do is be seen as having the same tactics as the recording industry.
Man that website is pathetic, it’s all FUD against Apple. So much for “not targeting Apple specifically”, and it’s extremely lame for them to use the iPod likeness in their logo. I’ve noticed the same lameness for the Best Buy/Napster ad’s on some sites where they use the iPod likeness to promote their stuff.
Is this smart tactics by Real to undermine Apple, or is this something stupid that could possibly backfire on Real? Soon we’ll know.
I think everyone should buy a single song from Real…the credit card charges alone will kill them.
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Congratulations everyone. The petition entries and article posts were so hard on Real that they removed them. ALL OF THEM. They were great, too. I just hope the REAL shareholders got a chance to see them.
Why is there no fuss about Sony and the ATRAC format?
Real is a (excuse my French) f**kin’ bulls**t as* company run by a bunch of retards. Someone should make a website called realstealstechnologyforprofit.com and petition the DOJ to prosecute them for theft of trade secrets.
What Real has done is moronic? Don’t they realize that iPod users are happy buying their music from iTunes (which by the way has a larger library). And for those who own iPods and don’t buy music online, Real neglects the fact that those users just buy CDs.
Can you buy tunes from Real from a Mac?
The petition has been removed from the Freedom of Music Choice web site.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?r4apple
No Al, you can’t buy tunes from Real if you are using a Mac. iTMS is ironically, but not surprisingly, the only music download store you can use with both Mac and Windows. The other stores, like Real’s, are Windows only.
So much for all Real’s marketing about compatibility and choice.
whats the legal ramifications about using someone else’s trademarked/copyrighted/patented product design in your ads?
Obviously Real are all for Freedom of Choice but not for Freedom of Speech…
just buy cds. its a better deal with a highquality physical copy, and you can encode how you want, as many times as you want. it makes my ears sick to crank an mp3/aac.
That’s just a gay graphic