In this article, an interesting development has occurred with the digital music market. The three big outlets have all switched up their pricing schemes. Although I'm not as familiar with Amazon or Wal-Mart, I do know that the songs on iTunes were all priced at 99 cents. Now, on iTunes, songs sell for either 69 cents, 99 cents or $1.29 each. In addition, Apple has chosen to eliminate the copy-protection technology that limited users to listening to iTunes-purchased music only on an Apple-manufactured iPod.
So, what does this mean for the company itself? At this point, I feel that it is still way too early to tell what the overall result will be, but I do have a couple guesses. For one, the top songs list is one of the first things I check when browsing the iTunes Store. Now, when one loads up this section, they see a variety of prices next to the songs. Based off of early observations, it seems as if the prices are ramped up to $1.29 on the most popular songs. For instance, out of the top ten, only two are selling for 99 cents. Moving further down the list, more and more 99 cent songs pop up, but the distinction between the two still exists.
Now, speaking out of experience, whenever I hear a song I love over the radio, I cannot help but purchase it as soon as get back to my computer. If that situation happens now, I'll be forced to spend an extra thirty cents where I previously did not have to. Based off a consumer's point of view, this really stinks. The economy is already in shambles and money is tight as it is. For this, I have a feeling that sales will begin to drop. Considering that the iPod and iTunes are Apple's biggest sources of revenue, this may also lead to a significant drop in the company's stock. In my eyes, this is definitely a risky endeavor, but I am also very curious to see how it ultimately turns out. Stay tuned for more news on the issue as it becomes available.
0 Comments
As I have mentioned before, sometimes unexpected things pop up that you don't expect and you've just got to deal with them. For some reason, my computer would not run my website editing program and I was unable to provide any sort of content without using another computer. Considering that my schedule is quite stacked as it is, it was a tough task to make time to go to another computer lab and transfer articles. To start off, I'd like to let everyone know that I may not be continuing this website any further. For those who know my past academic history, I was once a pre-pharmacy student. Well, it turns out that I've decided to make the switch back to pre-pharm and forget this whole journalism nonsense. Besides, in the current economy, who cares about personal expression through writing when you can be making six figures?? Cha-ching! With that said, expect this to be one of the last posts you will ever see on this site, we've had a good run and I thank all visitors for sticking around. |
Who am I?
My name is Mike Revak, a Journalism major at Temple University. For more info, please click the About Me tab at the top of the page. Other than that, this is my website, I try to update frequently on a variety of topics, so check it all out and let me know what you think! CategoriesArchives
April 2009
Interested in E-mail Updates?
|