Apple finally ready for iTunes subscriptions?
The iTunes Store might soon have a yearly subscription option for $129 a year.
(Credit: Apple)Three Mac rumors sites have received anonymous tips that Apple is getting ready to introduce a subscription iTunes service in September.
We were already pretty sure that September would bring new iPods, but Apple might have something more ambitious up its sleeve. MacRumors, MacDailyNews, and The Unofficial Apple Weblog are all saying a tipster spilled the beans about a $129-a-year iTunes service that would piggyback on Apple's MobileMe service.
The reports are all eerily similar, suggesting that accurate or not, all the sites heard from the same source. Under the new service, Apple would offer unlimited access to half of its iTunes Store--as of an October launch--for $129 a year, or $179 for an iTunes/MobileMe combo deal, in the U.S. only. If you're already a MobileMe subscriber, you'll only have to fork over $99.99 for the subscription service, perhaps as a mea culpa for this summer's disastrous MobileMe launch.
Rumors of an iTunes subscription service are not new; I found reports dating back to 2005 that Apple was getting ready to introduce such a thing. CEO Steve Jobs has historically pooh-poohed the idea of rental music--and such services haven't exactly taken the world by storm--but Jobs has also said he wasn't crazy about video-playing iPods and Apple-designed mobile phones, either.
This service introduction would also reportedly include an expanded MobileMe service that would let you access "the cloud" (Apple calls it iDisk) from your iPhone or iPod Touch.
While we're on this track, let me be the first to revive--based on absolutely nothing--the Beatles on iTunes rumors for September. It has to happen one of these days.
Tom Krazit, a staff writer for CNET News, focuses on all things Apple. He has covered traditional PC companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, chip companies such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and mobile computers ranging from Research In Motion's to Palm's. E-mail Tom.
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If the service allowed you to purchase music (sampled under the subscription service) for a BIG discount then I can see the attraction.
Otherwise it's a money pit with a poison chalice waiting at the end.
Also keep in mind that the iPod market is pretty saturated at this point. I have 5th gen iPod that I haven't upgraded yet because it's working fine. Other than expanded storage on an iPod classic, I have no need to purchase a new one. By offering a subscription service it provides a guaranteed constant inflow of cash from Apple customers. A company would be crazy to turn money away from their customers.
I have at least 150 GB of music?much of it transferred from CD's I have purchased, though a lot of it is from iTunes (as well as eMusic)?and guess what! There's stuff I have that I don't listen to at all, have forgotten I have, and even don't particularly care for.
Yet I am glad that I have them because my tastes grow and evolve over time, and some music that I don't like now I may have a change of heart about later.
Or maybe not. Though at least the music is mine. If I don't buy another iTunes song or television show again I at least know that I have, I have.
Thank you for continuing to support the horrible music that continues to come out. :-)
As far as the mobile me service, I have been waiting for a reason to move my e-mail back to apple. If that package deal comes to be (mobile me+iTunes), then I am finally sold...
Forget rental music and just release the Beatles already. That would be a lot more interesting. Rental music is just a technological will they-won't they. Big deal. Digital Beatles would be a far more interesting story.
The reason to pay the $10/month for a subscription is so that you have access to *all* the music you could possibly want, in every genre, every artist, anytime, anywhere -- suddenly decide you want to have some late 1950's jazz? Got it. Play a game of "name that band" at a part? Got it. Parents visiting and they're not into you death metal collection? Billy Joel is only a click away. Have a spouse or kids that aren't perfectly aligned with your taste in music? Everything they like is available for $10 month and you don't have to buy it and store it.
Likewise, someone says, "Have you heard....?" and you can check it out instantly... and if you like it, then you buy it. you don't have to rely on lame radio or other canned music sources for music exploration/discovery.
Try it and you'll see that the model is not a replacement for owning music... I've got over 250gigs of high quality mp3s and 100s of cds lying around of the stuff I really care about... not to mention 300+ cassettes (thank goodness I own those ;-) in addition to the rhapsody subscription, the Pandora subscription, etc... just different models for consuming music that work really well together.
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by alansky1--2008
August 21, 2008 3:02 PM PDT
- So a combo subscription for new subscribers would be $179 a year?$80 more than a MobileMe subscription, that is?but current MobileMe subscribers would pay $99 extra for the same service? In other words, new customers pay $179 but current customers pay $198. Some bargain!
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