Jobs: iTMS Subscription Service Probably Not Going To Happen
- April 26th, 2007
- Read 1310 times
- 4 Comments
When Jobs speaks about music, rest assured, his crowd is awaiting and listening with open ears. Recently, the Apple CEO said that the iTunes Music Store is “unlikely” to get a subscription-based service. From an interview with Reuters:
Never say never, but customers don’t seem to be interested in it,” Jobs told Reuters. “The subscription model has failed so far.” Jobs reaffirmed that “people want to own their music.”
I think what Steve Jobs says applies to the majority of people who listen to music. We want to own the songs and albums we listen to. Renting is good for when you’re looking to try something new out, like a car or even music. Just give people the option to purchase the tracks they rent via iTMS and I think Apple will have an even stronger storefront to back them up.
Jobs also went on to talk about how the other major labels “might” drop DRM soon. But don’t hold your breath because it could take quite a bit of time for that to happen.
Apple CEO: iTunes subscriptions unlikely, labels considering DRM-free tracks [iLounge]
Paul Murphy (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I could care less about owning.. I don’t own anything that’s DRM’d in my opinion anyway. I like variety and subscription is the only legal, cost effective way to get it.
Greg (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I’m with Jobs on this one. I don’t download too many things on iTunes anyway, so it’s actually cheaper for me month-to-month to go a la cart, than all-you-can-eat subscribing.
The main reason I don’t like subscriptions is that if I decide to stop paying the subscription fee, or if the service folds (not that I think iTunes will, but it could), I have to buy all my albums at $.99/track, which is exactly what I would’ve done if I hadn’t subscribed. The money’s wasted.
That said, I’m surprised they don’t want to offer it - I’m sure there are people out there who aren’t me, where the math works out in their favor.
akatsuki (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Subscription competes against radio, not the purchase model. It just renders the purchase model unnecessary. Everyone complains about not getting to keep your tracks, but I think if you think of it as radio-on-demand, you will see the appeal. I would love subscription, and as long as the price remains reasonable and the amount of downloads is essentially unlimited, I would sign up instantly.
Paul Murphy (Who am I?)
1 year ago
agree - subscription is actually the main reason i was on napster (not itunes) and now zune. believe it or not, it’s got nothing to do with the fact that i work for microsoft.