Apple Mulls Subscription Model....

[Deleted member 651465]

Engadget expands on the story a bit:

- It's likely to follow Nokia's "comes with music" model whereby you pay a premium for the device and then get 12 months of free music
- It's likely to be limited to iPhones, since Apple can tack the charge onto the line rental bill

I'd happily pay £7-10 a month for unlimited music on my iPod touch. No way would I swap to an iPhone just for this feature though.

What I've read it seems that the charge will be a part of the price, rather than an add-on.

For example, £200 for an iPod = £180 for the hardware, £20 for the Unlimited music usage.

However, the more I think about it, the more it HAS to be DRM'd.

Otherwise people would subscribe for a month, download all their music and cancel.


As long as the price per device doesn't rise for those of us who don't want the subscription then I'm happy

 

[Tunney]

For example, £200 for an iPod = £180 for the hardware, £20 for the Unlimited music usage.

Nokia's scheme goes both ways. You pay a premium for the device and you get free music for 12 months. If you want to extend the free music past that period, you start paying £X per month.

However, the more I think about it, the more it HAS to be DRM'd.

Agreed. This is one of the few cases where DRM is a good thing. Without DRM, this kind of service wouldn't be able to exist. Otherwise you'd download 10,000 tracks and then cancel your service.

The reason subscription services haven't worked in the past is because they've all been incompatible with the iPod. Without 70% of music players on board, how can they possibly succeed?

 

[Slogan]

I haven't bought a single song off the iTunes store yet. I much prefer having the physical back up copy.

I also don't like the way it's not a case of just logging into your account and re-downloading all your content. That you supposedly have to get permission to re-download your content and that the very permission is limited.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Nokia are the devil.

[/waterboy]


If Apple can please these music companies / record labels and they have a good subscription model with good bitrates then they'll have a winner

 

[Spyhop]

much prefer buying the CD, ripping it, then boxing it up as a backup.

Me too. I'm not going to pay for any lossily compressed tracks or albums. It's not about hearing the difference, it's about having a lossless base copy that you can transcode to any formats you want, both now and in the future.

 

[iraiguana]

I would have to say that until the quality is that of CD then people will not be willing to pay for it. I for one am not anyway. Hard CDs sounds great on a good stereo and I will not compromise on that one.

 

[Rambaud]

I buy quite a few singles off iTunes, and double albums. Otherwise it's usually cheaper to buy the CD.

I would be interested in a subscription deal, if the bit-rate option(s) were high. Not bothered about DRM.