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Apple's Music Store - The Future of Music

Apple just launched it's on-line music service this week, selling tunes at $0.99 a piece. Here's an article about the service from today's Globe and Mail, which is a Canadian national newspaper: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030507.wbmath0507/BNStory/Business.

If major labels put more and more focus on these web-based services, will there come a day when CD's, SACD's, LP's, etc. will no longer be available? Since I question the quality of MP3 and PC-burned disks, how will the audiophile market be served?
mghcanuck

Showing 3 responses by bomarc

bomarc
501 posts
 
Well, there are still LPs, and look how long vinyl's been dead.

I think, at least as far as pop music is concerned, we're headed back to the 50s, when singles (aka 45s) dominated. Jazz and classical will hold on to the prerecorded disk much longer, both because of the nature of the art and because their audience is older and less computer-centered. At some point, everything will be available for download, and everyone will see that as the normal way to acquire music. At that point, hi-rez disks (and that may include CDs) will become an audiophile fetish, offered at audiophile prices. But that day is still a long way off.
bomarc
501 posts
 
A few notes and corrections: While the iTunes store is currently Mac-only, Apple's intention is to expand into the Windows market by the end of the year. (Apparently, part of their thinking was to work out any glitches in a small market, which Mac is.)

Also, Apple is not selling MP3s. It uses a different codec which is generally regarded as superior. It's still compressed, but what you buy should sound a lot better than a 128kbps MP3.

Finally, while Apple may have only 3% of the personal computer market, I believe the iPod is the best-selling portable music player. I can't vouch for the company's long-term financial viability, but if all you look at is its PC market share, you're missing a lot of what Apple has going for it.
bomarc
501 posts
 
Very true, Agon, but remember that Apple has two scaling problems here. Problem #1 is the Windows market. Problem #2 is getting the music industry to buy in fully and make their entire catalog available this way. I suspect part of the go-slow approach here is designed to relieve the concerns of the labels.

As for the "proprietary" codec, it belongs to Dolby, not Apple, and as far as I know there's nothing to stop Rio or Sony from producing an AAC player just like they produce MP3 players. Granted, Apple made a big mistake 18 years ago when it decided not to license the OS. They can't make that mistake this time, because they don't control the licensing--Dolby does.
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