THE MUSIC DOPE

comments on the machinations of the music industry

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

How long until this catches up to Apple?

Boing Boing: Apple steals iTunes customers' paid-for rights to stream

For all the good press the iTMS receives, it's pretty rare that negative press ever focuses on the moving goalposts at Apple Computer.

The value proposition ($.99 per song) has changed, for the worse, ever since the iTMS has opened. Your rights as user of downloaded tracks are shrinking--less burns, streaming restrictions, etc. There are "workarounds" to all these issues, but from a distance, things aren't getting better (still can't buy lossless tracks, if your purchased tracks get erased they are lost for good, etc.)

This strikes me as an opportunity in the making. Instead of fortifying the offering, Apple is weakening it.



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