“Portal company Yahoo Inc. informed customers of its subscription music download service that it will increase pricing for users who transfer their tunes onto portable devices or CDs,” Matt Hines reports for PC Magazine. “The Sunnyvale, Calif., firm forwarded an e-mail to its Yahoo Music Unlimited subscribers late Thursday telling customers that it plans to double the fee it charges for the so-called unlimited service from $4.99 per month to $9.99 per month, for people who buy the service on an annual basis.”
Hines reports, “Yahoo said people who subscribe to the download service on a monthly basis will see their memberships increase from $6.99 per month to $11.99 per month. Unlike subscribers to Apple Computer Inc.’s market leading iTunes music service, who pay 99 cents per song download and own the music forever thereafter, Yahoo’s service more closely mimics the offerings of Napster LLC and RealNetworks Inc., which allow users to download as many songs as they wish for use on their computers, but levee additional fees for permanent ownership of the digital content. In addition to the higher subscription fee, Yahoo charges subscribers 79 cents per download for music they want to keep for usage on a portable device or to burn onto CDs.”
Hines reports, “Yahoo claims that its service still represents the best deal on the market, while Napster charges a similar $9.95 per-month fee, plus 80 cents for each permanent download. Real’s Rhapsody service costs $9.99 for downloads to computers, while its Rhapsody to Go package, which allows users to transfer content to mobile devices, retails for $14.95 per month.”
Full article here.
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Grabbing as much cash as they can to minimize losses before shutting it down? We prefer to own our music, rather than rent. We also prefer seamless compatibility with our iPods and software that works for both Macs and Windows PCs. For those reasons we’ll stick with iTunes Music Store, thanks.
Related articles:
BusinessWeek: Apple unlikely to launch music subscription service – August 15, 2005
Analyst: Apple will lose market share to subscription services, fact that iTunes is tied to iPod – May 17, 2005
Study shows Apple iTunes Music Store pay-per-download model preferred over subscription service – April 11, 2005
didn’t steve jobs && Co. have a contest who could guess when yahoo would raise the prices?
Just wait, it’s going to increase even more because Yahoo et al have no leverage due to their small marketshare.
All I know is that the songs I paid $0.99 for are mine and that’s it. Done deal. Renting music is absurd. Just listen to the radio.
damn, he was close too! may 25th + 5 months
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http://www.makeyougohmm.com/20050525/1919/
This is scary. The way I see it this leaves all the power in the hands of your service provider. Imagine that you say, enough is enough, $40 bucks a month is too expensive. Lets switch providers. Imagine the amount of work!
I feel much safer knowing that the music is mine.
Surprise, Surprise…. NOT.
The end is near, Yahooooo!
What is it that some companies just don’t get it… This is sooo obvious that you don’t have to be especially talented to figure out it won’t work.
“Renting music” ha ha ha!!! What about “renting jokes” or “renting food” .
I am glad I have bought my music.
didn’t steve jobs && Co. have a contest who could guess when yahoo would raise the prices?
—
ah, I almost feel bad for Yahoo..
Apple mocked them by talking about the bet, and it turns out.. like 2 months later, Yahoo jacks up prices.. LAME!
*shakes head.. paging Paul Thurrott…paging Paul Thurrott
Wow, that was far shorter than I thought it was going to take.
Anyone still want Apple to offer a subscription service to iTunes NOW!
Yeah, Steve Jobs said publicly that there was a bet going on at Apple on how long it would take for them to raise prices. I think Jobs said his money was on 6 months, which should make it a fairly accurate prediction.
That’s always been the problem with renting. You’re stuck when they raise the prices, which of course, they will.
iTunes – pay once, own it forever.
And thus they eleiminate their onmly competitive advantage
And technically, going from $4.99 to $9.99 more than doubles their price!
Granted, it’s only a penny, but hey!
MW = music. That says it all.
YAHOOOWWEE!!!
Now all those cheapos will say, “damm if I would have bought the music at iTunes I could have owned it all by now and placed it on one of those new cool Video iPods”
“Now I’m stuck paying a higher monthly fee and don’t own anything”
HAHAHAHA!!
Someone the other day bragged they have 300 songs and only pay several dollars a month. I told them I have over 7000 songs and I own every single one of them and to what I please with them. Create custom playlists, burn cd’s and carry them all around with me on my iPod.
“You got 7000 songs in here?!”
“Yep” I says
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I think subscription services blow monkey chunks, because it’s true that you’re stuck if they raise the price… And if you bail, then you’re out whatever you paid for it.
Just to say one thing about iTunes… That’s true, you do own it forever… and that’s the problem. You can never resell the music like a used CD… and as iTunes takes over, you’ll see the used CD market evaporate…
Don’t believe me? Go an try to find an 8-track somethere.
People have a hard time seeing beyond the current fad.
Nevertheless, I think iTunes is great for those one hit wonders… but I wouldn’t buy albums on it.
Go and read about the “First Sale Doctrine” under copyright law and you’ll see how digitization is making it disappear.
Actually, it turns out Steve is in league with the Devil – a point that will surprise nobody.
He made his comment at All Things Digital this year, during his interview which – according to the conference schedule – was at 7pm on May 22nd.
So if you turn out to be at a poker table with Steve, cash in your chips and walk away – because he probably knows what cards you’ll get before they get dealt.
Whoo boy howdy!
It’s gonna be fun watching how this all pans out. Of course, we all know what the inevitable conclusion will be.
Yahoo, taking a dirt nap. Closely followed by Napster… my, how apropos. Finally RealNetworks and Glaser will be kept on life support by Micro$oft until Ballmer decides to pull the plug whilst simultaneously sticking a shiv between Reals’ ribs in order to keep MSN Music alive.
Now is that entertainment or what!?
“He made his comment at All Things Digital this year, during his interview which – according to the conference schedule – was at 7pm on May 22nd.”
Wow. Steve was off by only one day. Impressive. http://d.wsj.com/schedule/index.html
“What is it that some companies just don’t get it… This is sooo obvious that you don’t have to be especially talented to figure out it won’t work”
All they can see is how profitable it would be for them if this pig really could fly; they lose sight of the fact that it’s a pig.
Brings to mind a little saying about can’t see the forest for all the trees.
This is all well and good, but most of you are missing the point behind subscription services: they’re all functionally and theoretically the same as iTunes – and then some. They all have a music store (a la iTunes) AND a subscription service. So when you bail, or when they shut your doors, you’re not out however many songs you bought (for 79 or 80 cents). They’re still yours. They’re not stocks.
You pay a monthly fee – only if you want – to listen to as much as you want. Would none of you pay, say, 10 bucks a month to listen to whatever you want from the iTunes catalog, at will? Really? And if you fall in love with it so much that you wanna burn it, then buy it. It’s beyond me why Apple’s so disinterested in this model. Unlike the music store model, subscription services actually keep almost 50% of what they charge. Coupled with the ability to carry around whatever you want on your iPod (as long as you pony up the subscription fee) = gangbusters for Apple.
Please, someone enlighten me why that wouldn’t make sense for Apple (outside of “I’d rather own my music” or “renting is for sissies”).
I’ll tell you why it wouldn’t make sense.
ALMOST NO ONE WANTS IT!
How many listens to a song before you fall in love with it? iTunes offer what..30sec samples…but if you go to that artist’s website, you may get longer samples or even full songs though at a lower bitrate.
Do people discover new music on iTunes or do they discover an artist and then go to iTunes and purchase the song?
What about all those free Podcasts?
And how long before they jack up prices for the individual downloads people keep?
iTunes still the best deal on the web for Mac and Windows users. I knew and most others knew there low price point wouldn’t last long. Sure enough here’s the proof. Now the subscribers will drop like fly’s.
Gee, all those songs that the subscription services said would be expensive sure got a whole lot cheaper by having the subscription services raise their rates.
People want to own music.
I think the post I read was 10 years to catch up to subscription.
Now it just went to 5.
What a scam.
Go Apple go.
It’s so great to be proved correct!!
Get people to subscribe, so their whole music library is rented – lock them in to the scheme and then double the cost a month for you to have a music library.
LOL!!
Im sticking with iTunes!!
NEVER USE A MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE!!
BIGGEST RIPOFF THERE IS!!
Standard practice.
The first hit is always free.