Apple To Shut Down iTunes?

Apple could shut down its iTunes music store this week, if a verdict from the US Copyright Royalty Board forces the company to pay higher royalty rates.

A ruling is expected by the board today (October 2) on an application by the National Music Publishers' Association to raise the royalty fees paid to its members on songs purchased from online music stores including iTunes.

The association wants to increase rates by 66 per cent, from nine cents to 15 cents per track, whereas Apple wants a decrease to 4.8 cents per track, reports CNN.

In a statement submitted to the board last year, iTunes vice president Eddy Cue said that Apple would not stand for an increase:

"If the [iTunes store] was forced to absorb any increase in the... royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss - which is no alternative at all," the statement read.

Cue added that Apple would have no qualms about shutting iTunes down if it was not making enough money.

"Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money," he said, "and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably."

Research analysts Piper Jaffray predict that Apple will have an 85 per cent share of the digital music market this year.

Credits for the report to Nme.com.

Comments

[Spay]

Yes, yes, and yes. I'll stop 'stealing' if they give the money to the people who deserve it and not the people who are on 'the top of the foodchain'

[archangelseren]

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken... anyway itunes is pretty crap anyway with its protection it just gets in the way so if it ends it ends

[jshwak]

yea.. how dare musicians want compensation for their work ?? that's just crazy !!

and the upper-crust wonder why piracy is so rampant..

[vabrownsfan89]

That is absolutely rediculous. I personally dont use itunes, but i know a butt load of people that do, and to just stop operating it because they would have to pay 15 CENTS a song to the people that made it is shit. If the government thinks that internet piracy is bad now, wait until the only big site that charges for songs and actually works shuts down.

[goon316]

Thats why I rarely buy any cd's from the artists I enjoy but go to every one of their concerts. They make a little off the cd's but make most of their money off of tours and merch.

[thrashster]

apple doesnyt deserve shit, there lucky to be making money off of other peoples art, 15 cents is still ripping off these artists.

[arrayofemotions]

I'm not certain of this, but i think 15% royalties is a lot more than the royalties artists get from regular CD sales. 4.8% does sound more likely.

[KtuluCalls]

...I can still get everything free. I never needed Itunes.

[madman885]

So would this **** over the iPod as well? I'd like to see the Zune get popular.

[stuey22]

Publishers want more money? More like the labels want more money. The royalty rates for downloads are already much higher than CDs, and CDs aren't selling...which means labels don't get as much money...

madman885 wrote:

So would this **** over the iPod as well? I'd like to see the Zune get popular.

not really, you'd still be able to tranfer music onto the iPod you just wouldn't be able to buy the song through iTunes.

checked

[medium mike]

madman885 wrote:

So would this **** over the iPod as well? I'd like to see the Zune get popular.

No just the store... You could always use older software as well if they did stop with the Itunes alltogether.

[RU Experienced?]

I don't buy music digitally, so I don't care, but if this means that people's iPod's will become essentially useless Apple can expect a HUGE class action suit against them.

[JRowe3388]

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?

[JS5150]

Pay the musicians, without them, no one would need iTunes, or an iPod for that matter

[medium mike]

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?

No one said that... But I do think you need the Itunes software to upload the music.

[KtuluCalls]

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?

well people are stupid. I mean all you need is windows media and a sync cable and your good. at least thats what I do with my phone.

[\m/NikkiRyan\m/]

...Is Apple dumb, or did they not even think about a rate increase? I highly doubt a 10 cent increase will break anybody's back...

[SMBoo28]

i think apple should have to pay more lol

medium mike wrote:

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?


No one said that... But I do think you need the Itunes software to upload the music.

there are plenty of alternatives

[fredzeskater]

maybe if the music was cheaper, piracy wouldn't be as bad as it is. what's the point in buying music on itunes, when its the same price as the actual disc/case etc. s'not worth it.

[Will Summers]

i could care less. Im a zune person.

[sowhat360]

KtuluCalls wrote:

...I can still get everything free. I never needed Itunes.

This guy's missing the point.....at any rate apple wont lost this.

Will Summers wrote:

i could care less. Im a zune person.

it'll affect the whole digital download market. lower competition means higher prices and lower quality.

[raasbo]

Meh...I only buy cds.

[MetallicaIsGhey]

Ah, that would indeed suck...but whatever.

[jetfuel495]

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

kurt cobains ashes?

[-tempest-]

i hate buying music on itunes because of the locks on them so **** it

[GSD N3]

the new Realplayer can sync with iPods better than iTunes ever could.

[titsmcgee852]

jetfuel495 wrote:

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

kurt cobains ashes?

Fucking win.

[BriGuy7727]

wow I actually buy music from artists I like on iTunes. Guess I'll have to take my $ elsewhere...

[Lil Macker]

Hmm...

I wouldn't really care about iTunes not paying enough, half the artists today get paid way too much when heros such as firemen and paramedics get paid hardly anything for doing something a lot better.

I think they need to sort out the real problems, like piracy, it started with copying a vinil to a cassette, and now downloading. I mean, they get paid too much, but they still need to get paid.

[100%guitarmad]

Nine cents?!

I have to pay 79p (around 38 cents, i think)

[TheSilverBeatle]

Okay I think it's time the older generation got moved to some island where they can't do any more harm. Is the generation in charge really this clueless about the music business?

I mean right now the mentality is "the music business is unsaveable so let's kill it while also making a lot of money!" Like when in the history of anything has raising the price of something solved a problem?

No one's buying this product...our CEO has a brilliant idea...were going to raise the price by 10,000 dollars! WOO.

I think Apple is playing hard ball, I think this might be a bluff but still everyone currently in charge in the music business should be black-bagged V for Vendetta style.

[Nick1814]

Where the **** did this news come from? Itunes isn't going anywhere. Now delete this shit.

[pac108]

medium mike wrote:

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?


No one said that... But I do think you need the Itunes software to upload the music.

They arent shutting down the itunes software. Just the store. They may not make another version of iTunes but the ones that are out now will continue to work to load music onto ipods and just to organize and play it on your computer.

[Scorge]

arrayofemotions wrote:

I'm not certain of this, but i think 15% royalties is a lot more than the royalties artists get from regular CD sales. 4.8% does sound more likely.

the article was talking an increase of cents, not PERcent.

[Time Seller]

Fascinating. They've given the green light to even more rampant piracy.

[petey gunnz]

w00t for ppl who still buy cds give me a hell yeah
HELL YEAH!
down with itunes

[|Heretic|]

petey gunnz wrote:

w00t for ppl who still buy cds give me a hell yeah
HELL YEAH!
down with itunes

You think thats a good thing?

Record labels will make less money if Itunes shuts down. Therefore CD prices go up. Then you'll (not you in particular but people with the up cd down tunes attidtude) start complaining that CD's are too expensive.

Having said that the artists won't see much more of the money if the price does go up and Itunes stay, coz the record companies will probably take a bigger cut.

And I doubt Apple will lower it, as then they'll make NO money because the record companies will say 'erm no' and stop using it. Afterall, the music industry is all about profit.

[Ace5gt]

85% share and they claim they'll lose money. Please, spare me the BS Apple.

[classicrocker10]

if i buy cd's i use half.com or ebay. you can get them tons cheaper and the only person losing money is typically the person who is selling the cd. the other alternative that cost a bit more but the money goes straight to the artist is to buy the cd at shows. they usually charge a few bucks more but hell the money goes straight to the artist.

there are alternatives to downloading.

["Tele" Steve]

I still buy most of my music on CD but I do use the iTunes store from time to time. Anybody know of another good download site? Anyway, this just proves just how greedy and moneygrubbing the people at Apple are.

[demondown666]

finally, bout time apple pays for the music it stole.

[666nate666]

jetfuel495 wrote:

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...


kurt cobains ashes?

Hahahaa, legend

Seriously though, 85% and they are scared they will lose money. Bullshit

[asator]

100%guitarmad wrote:

Nine cents?!

I have to pay 79p (around 38 cents, i think)

You idiot. It's 9 cents out of the price of each song that Apple pay to artists. Not 9 cents that users pay per track.

*facepalm*

[chrisdazzo]

It won't happen. People would flip the f**k out.

[acidhammerdrums]

Scorge wrote:

arrayofemotions wrote:

I'm not certain of this, but i think 15% royalties is a lot more than the royalties artists get from regular CD sales. 4.8% does sound more likely.

the article was talking an increase of cents, not PERcent.

15% of a dollar is 15 cents. So its not wrong to use percent, just less right. (Since songs go for about a dollar on itunes.)

[whoismilan]

I'm surprised to see so many people over here support NMPA, especially since they are one of the companies who wants to shut down guitar tab sites (and have successfully done so many times in the past).

[whoismilan]

666nate666 wrote:
Seriously though, 85% and they are scared they will lose money. Bullshit

I'm in the business of my own burning money. I have 100% market share.

You see, having 100% market share is not helping me when the business I am in is not profitable.

[MattA7Xfan4Life]

the majority of the money would be going to the Record Company, not the artists. Bands make money on tour, by selling merch, etc. It's the record companies wanting to line their pockets even more, and it's bullsh*t. Both parties involved are being *******s, because Apple can afford to pay the extra amount and make money, but the Record Companies want to make even more money.

[JahCohBee]

Nick1814 wrote:

Where the **** did this news come from? Itunes isn't going anywhere. Now delete this shit.

chrisdazzo wrote:

It won't happen. People would flip the f**k out.

True story.. I wish you people would realize that ITUNES IS TOO BIG TO FAIL!!! Haha.. ok sorry, bad reference... But seriously, come on.. they're the #1 seller of music today... I highly doubt they're gonna just shut down like that... Steve Jobs is just gonna throw a hissy fit and whine but other than that it'll be ok!

[FenderMaster]

Fuck I-Tunes, the world will be better off without it

Someone needs to step in to offer the same service, but offer the artists a fair price, I know people would support that, most people genuinely care about their favourite bands

[draco123]

This is very weird. So we should be paying more to get music? I dont think so. If this is the case, why not increase prices on CD's as well. This is all due to te 700 Billion bail out. Which I think that, that itself is rediculous. Of course piracy is high but I think that they get their money in other things for example Merch, Shows, Sigs, and roalties. I think that they record companies need to take their fair share and give the bands their fair share. because i think that this all itself is rediculous. if anyone here diss agrees with me i think that they need a reality check. cuz i think that these bands dont get paid shit for what they do.....

[Les Paul Ell]

Yeah, shut it down. I hate Apple anyway.

[PoorStavi]

god apple is so stupid with their billion dollar corparations being all corparationy and screwing artists over and now whating to make even more money

[twistedmaggot]

alot of you people didn't read this article properly did you? it says the itunes music store might shut down, not the itunes program. ipod users aren't gonna be shafted unless they only use music bought from the itunes store.

[Benjammn]

Ok, so I jump on the iPod bandwagon because of the iTunes store, then find that Apple are willing to shut it down because neither Apple nor music publishers are willing to pay the artists?
Thank God the DSi was announced yesterday, because that makes me want to throw my iPod from the top of my 5-story dorm. Now if only Apple didn't use proprietary music format...

[king~olievo]

yaaaaay paying for nothing: 0
concept of ownership: 1

[desdin0va]

Good news then. Maybe once people have to start paying for CDs again, sound quality will start meaning more to listeners who were previously somehow willing to pay for songs at basically 1/10th of CD quality.

[flashmdg]

itunes is rubbish anyway, so i say dust to dust for it!!!!

[ratracekid111]

vabrownsfan89 wrote:

That is absolutely rediculous. I personally dont use itunes, but i know a butt load of people that do, and to just stop operating it because they would have to pay 15 CENTS a song to the people that made it is shit. If the government thinks that internet piracy is bad now, wait until the only big site that charges for songs and actually works shuts down.

no joke man, since they seem to be so opposed to it

[Veroth]

this is bull, i personally would recomend that they make it more worth while for musicians to get their music onto itunes instead of trying to rip them off. and its possible to get music onto an ipod without itunes with programs such as floola, and when they say theyre getting rid of itunes all they mean is they are going to shut the itune store down, so you could still manage your music with itunes. i wonder if they realize that piracy rates are going to go crazy.

[rich420]

Apple actually wanted to decrease the royalties?!

They are now officially more greedy that Micro$oft.

BOYCOTT APPLE!

[nikhil101]

down with itunes!

Checked

[dgme92]

Will Summers wrote:

i could care less. Im a zune person.

You COULDN'T care less. Would people ever use the righ damned phrase, grrr..

And, this sucks for millions of people if iTunes goes down, I know a good few that use it in my area alone.

[GenderConfusedJ]

If i had my Music on Itunes upon hearing this I would want it removed. an increase of 6 cents is barely going to help a musician, so it surely is not going to hurt a multi billion and multi market company.

[Lycan_Ste]

Never brought music digitally it made no sense to. Just buy a cd then its there to rip off rather then just burn a cd 5 times with iTunes.

[tands]

raasbo wrote:

Meh...I only buy cds.

that a boy, me too

[SlashWannabe1]

medium mike wrote:

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?


No one said that... But I do think you need the Itunes software to upload the music.

ITUNES sucks thats why theres plenty of 3rd party software that replaces Itunes so that you can fill your Ipod easier and with less hassle.

Just do a yahoo or Google search for "ITUNES EMULATOR". Then look up the program that fits your knowledge level.

[i_am_metalhead]

Spay wrote:

Yes, yes, and yes. I'll stop 'stealing' if they give the money to the people who deserve it and not the people who are on 'the top of the foodchain'

WTF? Apple is paying royalties to the artists already. Stop stealing!

"No one is buying hard copies of albums anymore so lets **** over Apple!" I'd really like to kill the stupid executive that thought of that idea.

[tamargoguitar]

5 cents per song?? i thought itunes was much more expensive, like 99 cents per song or something

[TK1]

Apple is just being greedy bitches at this point.

and how can you loose money on something like that??? you need a computer. and an internet connection. basically the store is generating money for nothing.

and at the rate they do make money there shouldnt be a problem with paying for bandwidth.

[AdamDK]

Shame, my friends use iTunes a lot. And they have an 85% share in the market, I'm sure they aren't going to loose too much of a share if they raise their prices a little too.

[twat]

Scorge :
arrayofemotions wrote:

I'm not certain of this, but i think 15% royalties is a lot more than the royalties artists get from regular CD sales. 4.8% does sound more likely.


the article was talking an increase of cents, not PERcent.

The tracks cost $0.99 so it is effectively percent.

I don't think iTunes will close the store. It would for them be a question of losing a couple of sales by putting the price up by $0.06 or losing billions by closing down one of the biggest, best well established stores on the web. It is probably just a ploy to put pressure on the copyright management guys.

[roketsox23]

i wud shit myself if itunes was gone.
the way it is promoting indie music is great and is how i find a lot of music.
i need itunes and so do ALL my friends.
thats a lot of the people i know.
itunes will manage.

[Citizen7]

The biggest laugh is that if Apple shuts down the iTunes store, that's 85% of digital music that will no longer be sold. Sure, some people will find different places to buy, but most people won't. The music industry is going to destroy itself with these kinds of grasps for profits. And just when they were starting to recover from piracy, too...

[scawti]

Really, the iTunes store - especially by making many out of print CDs available - had a huge impact on piracy. People who'd rather buy CDs or vinyl won't be affected. But if people who were buying from iTunes (and it is a proposed price hike not just more money out of Apples wallet) go back to file-sharing instead, that's no money to the NMPA. I agree it's a ploy, but I don't mind them playing hardball.

[euan_soad]

79p for a 128kbps song I can't play in anything else other than a shit music player? I'm not bothered.

Checked.

[courtkid1012]

I looked on google news.... I didn't see anything about this still....

[Fuzzbox91]

Good Itunes is the worst of them all because not only do they rip off the artist but they rip off the fans too, i hope they burn

[jetfuel495]

the funny thing is is that people are flipping out thinking that the software for their ipods is gonna go away. its not, just the store might shut down. theyd still have the software, how else would you sync? duh.

[food1010]

Spay wrote:

Yes, yes, and yes. I'll stop 'stealing' if they give the money to the people who deserve it and not the people who are on 'the top of the foodchain'

what he said ^

[sebbsmith]

another reason to why i'm glad i never bought an ipod.

[Kapalen]

15% is higher than that of a cd sale but a cds price also has to pay for packing and S&H etc. I think it sounds fair

[ShadesOfNight]

either way its the record companies that are going to be affected. either CD prices go up or down, but i doubt the bands will see a significant increase or decrease in earnings coz the label will still rip them off to make a bigger profit. scummy ****ers.
apart from Roadrunner....they are a very fair label with paying royalties etc

[AndyVanHalen]

arrayofemotions wrote:

I'm not certain of this, but i think 15% royalties is a lot more than the royalties artists get from regular CD sales. 4.8% does sound more likely.

Absolutely correct. You people are all morons for bashing Apple; they are one of the reasons music sales have gone up in the past few years.

Don't let the morons who run the majors tell you they have gone down. CD sales have decreased. Music sales has gone up significantly in the past few years.

Learn the facts. iTunes is one of the best things that has happened to the music business.

[AndyVanHalen]

-tempest- wrote:

i hate buying music on itunes because of the locks on them so **** it

Actually, alot of the stuff on their is DRM-free now, so...

[strat0blaster]

Spay wrote:

Yes, yes, and yes. I'll stop 'stealing' if they give the money to the people who deserve it and not the people who are on 'the top of the foodchain'

/debate

[GNRjungle87]

This is just a threat to get congress to pass some bill...it's not actually going to happen.

[chrisdazzo]

DRM-free doesn't mean your name still isn't all over it. Though, I have to admit, iTunes has distributed its fair share of sweet bonus tracks and exclusive videos with new albums. I'm sure people can at least appreciate that. But again, iTunes isn't going anywhere. So many people use it, and it wouldn't be in Apple's best interest to shut it down.

As Gizmodo so rightly stated, the iTunes shutdown threat is about as dangerous as the large hadron collider.

[Psychopathology]

Good, Apple doesn't pay the artists enough.

[ChucklesMginty]

And then when people can't download music legally, file-sharing rates go through the roof.

[Slash 555]

God now I may have to actually go to get up off my ass and start buying cd's.

[salsawords]

TK1 wrote:

Apple is just being greedy bitches at this point.

and how can you loose money on something like that??? you need a computer. and an internet connection. basically the store is generating money for nothing.

and at the rate they do make money there shouldnt be a problem with paying for bandwidth.

You're neglecting so many things about what itunes has to pay for, like royalties, staffing, etc...

[mjones1992]

ok, so the store closes....but the software will still be available, therefore the iPod won't disappear...

[metalscott76]

\m/NikkiRyan\m/ wrote:

...Is Apple dumb, or did they not even think about a rate increase? I highly doubt a 10 cent increase will break anybody's back...

On the scale that itunes is on, that ten cents is millions of dollars

[XxXshadowboyXxX]

While I'm not much of an Apple person and I don't download from iTunes...the amount of chaos and hassle caused by them shutting down would not be worth it. It would wreck the music industry. I don't think it would be that big of a deal to raise the prices a bit, at least then they could keep running. I think we'd be much better off raising the prices.

TK1 wrote:

Apple is just being greedy bitches at this point.

and how can you loose money on something like that??? you need a computer. and an internet connection. basically the store is generating money for nothing.

and at the rate they do make money there shouldnt be a problem with paying for bandwidth.

Uh...it takes a lot of staff and more than ONE single computer to run a massive operation like that. All the programmers, production and sales people, the people coming up with new ideas, and all the other staff. Not to mention decisions made by the Apple company affect so many people, I doubt they are taken lightly. The smallest decisions are probably run by hundreds of people.

[rocknroller5]

Apple is a bunch of rich d-bags that don't care about the artists that make their money and are struggling to get along

[Godsmack_IV]

I don't use the iTunes store but this is just silly.

[Nelli2881]

so those 9 cents that they currently get, does it all go to the band or does even more of it takin away by their label or someone else? just curious

[disachi]

itunes is a huge huge asset to apple, no way in hell would they shut it down

[Bob94571]

jetfuel495 wrote:

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

kurt cobains ashes?

lol best... comment.... ever

[sticknick]

If you did some research beyond this article, you will see it's not a raise to the artist royalties they are fighting, but a raise to the publishing royalties:

"Out of each 99 cent song, Apple currently pays artists and labels an estimated 65 to 70 cents per song, 9 cents of which they currently pass on to publishers. According to Apple, the 66 percent increase in publishing royalties to 15 cents per song requested by the National Association of Music Publishers (NMPA) is too much for the company to bear."

Not supporting either side, just sayin' is all.

[alnicoV]

i'd feel sorry for apple but i still havent seen a refund for the screwed up dark side of the moon files i downloaded or maybe if they at least emailed me back for my customer support...

[SimpleMan008]

85 per cent share?


lol what?

[xxYoungDimexx]

petey gunnz wrote:

w00t for ppl who still buy cds give me a hell yeah
HELL YEAH!
down with itunes

I still buy CD's.. HELL YEAH!..

[cornmancer]

For a second I thought that it said that they'd have to raise prices on itunes to 15 cents and thought, "people are suing to get paid less"

[stumaster18]

I don't really use the iTunes store anyways. I buy CDs. They're businesspeople at its finest.

[pootoob]

But... It doesn't cost to operate a website, or a program , only once in a while when they pay developers to upgrade...

[randyaintdead82]

as long as i got a library of music on my comp. so i can upload CDs on my iPod, (still listen to the CDs when I have a chance)I could possibly care less

[destijl]

apple make FAR too much money from iTunes to shut it down, get this crap off of news

woot for people who buy vinyl HELL YEAH

[Phoenix_24Leas]

I buy CD's and use torrents as well but itunes occasionally has stuff you can't even get through torrents i.e. Faunts or a couple of Muse B-sides. Itunes does have a few things going for it and I doubt they would close an operation that big. haha not unless the economy started to collapse or a shit load of banks folded or something haha...

[cm_punk_fan]

Spay wrote:

Yes, yes, and yes. I'll stop 'stealing' if they give the money to the people who deserve it and not the people who are on 'the top of the foodchain'

i think thats why you buy stuff cheaper off of itunes than in real life(like going to a music store) cause thats how they feel

[Kieran-Clinch]

RECKON they will..... they MIGHT

[metal15head]

zune is better

[Minderbinder]

Apple has nothing to complain about. They buy the songs for something like 11 cents, and then turn around and sell it for 99 cents! I refuse to but from them just for that reason. And they they complain about losing money.

[Ibzman]

They may eat my shit. They better consider giving more to the artists or I buy a Zune, f'ers.

[madman885]

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?

that's not what I'm saying. I'm suggesting that this would cause apple to stop making iPods altogether, which would make sense because the only thing that drove the iPods to sell was the success of the iTunes store and that the iPod was the only device that could play the iTunes Store's DRM-protected files.

[lank81]

That's why Trent Reznor and Radiohead hopefully change the face of music. Sell your stuff on your own either from your site or somewhere like Amazon. It might be harder for smaller bands / artists but at least you get the money you deserve, not the corporate machine.

[qotsa1998]

This is big, but not so much for consumers. Its almost like taking Wal-Mart out of the retail chain equation. Less competition from this giant means that prices might rise, and alot of TV shows and unsigned artists will lose money. Where are Tonecore artists gonna go? Although its not all bad. CD sales might get a boost b/c of this.

[metallica_121]

xxYoungDimexx wrote:

petey gunnz wrote:

w00t for ppl who still buy cds give me a hell yeah
HELL YEAH!
down with itunes


I still buy CD's.. HELL YEAH!..

i'm used to online music, but over the past couple of months i've been buying all cd's and some bands these days (the berzerker as an example) are leaving the record industries and starting their own company where they get MUCH more profit off the cd

[notsee]

Well, buying tracks off Itune's is a rip anyways. It is slightly cheaper, but you don't get a hard copy of the disc, and you can only play .AAC files over one medium, the Ipod. . .

[geetar_alex]

I cant see them shutting it down
they still make vast amounts of money from it

[Megadeth2011]

Ok? Ill just use Amazon... they have the same stuff Itunes does at the same price.
I dont download most of my music. I prefer CDs. And I cant see the price of CDs going up... it didnt change when Itunes was released.

[PanteraRapesYou]

itunes sucks anyway, you get the songs, but no cd... I'd rather buy from a store.

[guitargodwannab]

Spay wrote:

Yes, yes, and yes. I'll stop 'stealing' if they give the money to the people who deserve it and not the people who are on 'the top of the foodchain'

wtf dude, u pay for the track, its not like its free

[ShredderOmega]

Oh, get to ****. Obviously they're pissed. It's called business, it's there to make money. Stands to reason that if it's not making money it's not doing it's job. Welcome to the real world...

[SG_Player93]

finaly

[Plugs44]

just so everyone knows, it's spelled ridiculous, not rediculous. it also isn't pronounced that way.

[JS5150]

The only artists that are getting paid way too much are the bands at the very very top of the popularity and have been for a long time. Those bands like the Rolling Stones and the Police make a ton because they're selling out football stadiums every night. The other bands, especially the smaller bands that aren't headlining don't make a whole lot

Lil Macker wrote:

Hmm...

I wouldn't really care about iTunes not paying enough, half the artists today get paid way too much when heros such as firemen and paramedics get paid hardly anything for doing something a lot better.

I think they need to sort out the real problems, like piracy, it started with copying a vinil to a cassette, and now downloading. I mean, they get paid too much, but they still need to get paid.

[JS5150]

^ definitly messed that one up. you get the picture.

[MTVget0FFtheAIR]

i have never been one to buy from itunes anyway. over the past, if i wanted to get new music, i would either get it illegally or buy the cd in a store. now i have manned up and stuck to buying cds or listening to music on youtube. i get by just fine. imo, we don't need itunes to buy mp3s, but i'm quite materialistic.

[masterchief44]

jetfuel495 wrote:

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

kurt cobains ashes?

+ Infinite amounts

That's hilarious because both of these stories are ridiculous.

The artists deserve EVERYTHING made by their music.

And Courtney/Frances definitely should legally get his ashes back, immediately.

[crazymanbigman]

jetfuel495 wrote:

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

kurt cobains ashes?

You. Fucking. Fit. Bitch

Lmao.

[MetalheadMark]

I'm gonna be pissed if iTunes is shut down. Hyperpissed. Megapissed. Ultramegahypersuperfreakignpissed.

[Aceman_196]

Lil Macker wrote:

Hmm...

I wouldn't really care about iTunes not paying enough, half the artists today get paid way too much when heros such as firemen and paramedics get paid hardly anything for doing something a lot better.

I think they need to sort out the real problems, like piracy, it started with copying a vinil to a cassette, and now downloading. I mean, they get paid too much, but they still need to get paid.

Paramedics and firefighters hardly get paid anything what are you smoking.

checked.

dumb.

[hnfan4eva]

limewire. itunes can shut down forall i care, the songs there are already way to much.(and yet i continue to but from them...?)

[ZedLeppy]

This will be a leap forward in music if this happens, I'd say. Buying internet via the internet, or just downloading it illegally is killing the music industry incredibly. The only bands that sort of make money off of internet music is the Jonas Brothers or some other mainstream crap.

We need to bring music back to its roots where you listen to an album with your friends and experience it within society, rather than at home, by yourself, illegally.

/rant

[f1sk]

ZedLeppy wrote:

This will be a leap forward in music if this happens, I'd say. Buying internet via the internet, or just downloading it illegally is killing the music industry incredibly. The only bands that sort of make money off of internet music is the Jonas Brothers or some other mainstream crap.

We need to bring music back to its roots where you listen to an album with your friends and experience it within society, rather than at home, by yourself, illegally.

/rant

enough of the /rant that is retarted
also it is not killing the music industry its helping it, i can buy shit that there is ordinarily no way I would be able to get the cd for, also its good because since they arent making jack for money off of it money is no longer a goal, with technology its easy as hell to record your own band yourself and post it on itunes


also i doube itunes would close it down they are making so much dough off of it

[Tubyboulin]

Well thats smart. Take away the legal places to download it, and leave all the file sharing ones. :p

[darkfire_storm]

Irnmaiden4life wrote:

god apple is so stupid with their billion dollar corparations being all corparationy and screwing artists over and now whating to make even more money

you know, Apple actually has a good deal to do with helping artists out. think about it. in all of their commercials, they use some quirky song by a band that isn't mainstream, and then a few weeks later, the song is extremely popular and the band is famous. i think that worked out for that Feist chick and that other band... the Ting-Tings or something like that? or at least i'd never heard of either of them before the apple commercials use them.

[GuitarFreak664]

Minderbinder wrote:

Apple has nothing to complain about. They buy the songs for something like 11 cents, and then turn around and sell it for 99 cents! I refuse to but from them just for that reason. And they they complain about losing money.

How is that any different than a CD? There are still all the royalties and everything there. A CD isn't worth $17 but filled with music it is. Obviously the Apple has to make a profit if they are paying 60 or 70 cents to the artists and record labels. If they sold for half as much as they do now, then Apple would have to pay artists to give away their songs to their customers. Think about it bro.

[mr. ...]

damn apple. why do these prick have to be so ****in greedy?

[deathofagod]

apple have managed to make themselves look like total ****s, they are one of the richer companies around, and are still saying they are in this to make money, have they ever thought about selling for consumers and not just for their own pockets
oh no I forgot rich people don't think like that, it's strange, being rather poor myself, for some reason a lot of my money is shared with my friends on nights out if they're short for drinks or whatever, cos I want everyone to have fun not just myself, I bet a rich **** wouldn't do that.
sorry for the random rant

[a7xf@n43v3r]

I doubt people care. Many people around me use limewire. But I buy the CD's. One time I tried iTunes and when I bought the song it kept FUCKING UP

[JamesxHetfield]

raasbo wrote:

Meh...I only buy cds.

Same. I never buy stuff online. So it wont affect me.

[CoolDudeMorgasm]

Well you can't blame Apple for wanting to make money. No one in their right mind would knowingly run their business at a loss.

[lachlandavis]

I do not understand how they could POSSIBLY operarate at a LOSS when they are giving 9CENTS to artists whilst charging over a dollar a track!! What are they spending the money on?

[catchy phrase]

No way in hell will iTunes shut down. It's just bluster by Apple to try and scare the publishers into complying.

A service with 85% market share doesn't just shut down overnight.

[zache57]

amazon is the best place to download music, its drm free

[fagelamusgtr]

I hope it closes down. If it doesnt, i hope they atleast have to start paying a higher percent to the artist. They deserve it a lot more than the corporate hogs who practically "copy and paste" the artist's music and make most of the money.

[travd92]

as long as the music i have previously purchased doesn't disapear, i don't have a problem with this. i don't use it anymore.

[angus_young_32]

good news to my ears.

R.I.H
Rot In Hell

[Oneordinarylife]

People are so dumb. Read the article. Apple is not getting rid of the iTunes software, just the store. Everyone that is wondering what they could do with their iPods, they are not getting rid of iTunes itself. Shame on UG for a deliberately misleading headline too.

[41plus182]

deathofagod wrote:

apple have managed to make themselves look like total ****s, they are one of the richer companies around, and are still saying they are in this to make money, have they ever thought about selling for consumers and not just for their own pockets
oh no I forgot rich people don't think like that, it's strange, being rather poor myself, for some reason a lot of my money is shared with my friends on nights out if they're short for drinks or whatever, cos I want everyone to have fun not just myself, I bet a rich **** wouldn't do that.
sorry for the random rant

You have absolutley no idea what you are talking about. Business isnt pure profit. It ACTUALLY COSTS MONEY TO RUN A BUSINESS. Why would anyone run a part of a company if they were just going to report losses? It would be pointless. I'm sorrry if i'm being harsh but you can't say how a rich person thinks when obviously aren't one. On another topic, ppl are also saying "well i only buy cd's it doesnt affect meh lolololol!!!" Thats not true. When the digital downloading industry starts losing business (they would indefinitley if iTunes shut down), CD sales go up, and CD retailers can raise their prices. Then youll be whining that CD prices are too high.

[manson_6sic6]

titsmcgee852 wrote:

jetfuel495 wrote:

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

kurt cobains ashes?
Fucking win.

hahaha nice one

[-xCaMRocKx-]

NMPA complains about people pirating music.

NMPA complains about people legally buying music because they don't make enough money off it.

NMPA forces one of the biggest worldwide music stores to shut down.

NMPA wonders why pirating increases.

[TechnicolorType]

Scorge wrote:

arrayofemotions wrote:

I'm not certain of this, but i think 15% royalties is a lot more than the royalties artists get from regular CD sales. 4.8% does sound more likely.


the article was talking an increase of cents, not PERcent.

yeah, but if a song costs 1 dollar and they make 15 cents then 15% is the same thing as 15 cents.

[False_God]

meh not bothered. but I do feel like iTunes closing will encourage more p2p sharing thus artists getting no money lol.

Music industry is slowly stabbing itself to death and they will realise it in a few years.

[zachmcpeak1012]

who cares
LIMEWIRE

[davlop91]

So if I have an iPod, where am I going to get my music from?

[SlashYourFug]

Jesus, bands only get 15 cents per song?!

And we're the pirates?

[41plus182]

zachmcpeak1012 wrote:

who cares
LIMEWIRE

You're exactly the reason this is happening.
BTW sry for the double post....

[-xCaMRocKx-]

davlop91 wrote:

So if I have an iPod, where am I going to get my music from?

You're not serious? This been said so many times, you DON'T need itunes store to put music in itunes! You can get your music from ANYWHERE and put it on itunes.

[algemar]

I't doesnt matter whether or not the iPod can be used with iTunes or not. (It can be used with other programs to clarify)

What is important is that the iTunes store sells iPods. The iPods are where apple makes their money, not necessarily the store. Therefore, they cannot shut down the iTunes store.

[algemar]

When I say the iTunes store sells iPods, I mean it helps promote the sale, not that you can buy iPods at the store.

[piss0(FF)]

i say good ****in riddance to itunes.
**** those faggots

[Tedward]

SlashYourFug wrote:

Jesus, bands only get 15 cents per song?!

And we're the pirates?

no kidding. They sell those songs for like a 1.50 each.

the people that dont even make the music get all the money.

i ****ing hate apple and everything they stand for

[Domine6377]

\m/NikkiRyan\m/ wrote:

...Is Apple dumb, or did they not even think about a rate increase? I highly doubt a 10 cent increase will break anybody's back...

that increase may look small but when u multiply it by how many songs a day are downloaded a day, which is in the millions surely, then that is a huge loss for apple.

[Gmurcielago14]

greedy bastards, thank you god. I buy my music elsewhere anyways.

[Gmurcielago14]

Tedward wrote:

SlashYourFug wrote:

Jesus, bands only get 15 cents per song?!

And we're the pirates?

no kidding. They sell those songs for like a 1.50 each.

the people that dont even make the music get all the money.

i ****ing hate apple and everything they stand for

Hate apple, but I love their products...

[shadow__666]

I'm an Apple devotee, but this is just retarded. Does Steve Jobs really need more money? Oh well...I buy CDs anyway.

[mr.happyman]

This didn't pass just so you guys know. saw it on cbc.

[tona_107]

Why does apple need 91% of the profits? What is the running cost of the itunes store honestly? How could only running 85% of all revenues somehow mean a deficit?

[smackjack29]

I HAVE AN IDEA!

how about instead of incresing royalties like the artists want or deacreasing royalties like apple wants why dont they keep it the ****ing SAME!

[VertigodowN]

mr.happyman wrote:

This didn't pass just so you guys know. saw it on cbc.

ya and they also said we were in no danger of a crash at all last week, go figure

[Sic59]

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?

cuz their ignorant

[Metall_pingwin]

tamargoguitar wrote:

5 cents per song?? i thought itunes was much more expensive, like 99 cents per song or something

-_-
5cent royalties. People pay 99 cents, Apple keeps 94, the label\artist makes 5. They want to make it so that you pay 99 cents, apple keeps 85 cents and the artist\label makes 15.

[davlop91]

Well, i know you can download music form other sites. So its just gonna be iTunes (like the library and shit) without iTunes store?

-xCaMRocKx- wrote:

davlop91 wrote:

So if I have an iPod, where am I going to get my music from?


You're not serious? This been said so many times, you DON'T need itunes store to put music in itunes! You can get your music from ANYWHERE and put it on itunes.

[bucketned]

sooooo
ill just keep buying Cds like i have since i was nine...
problems?
yay, nay?

alright then settled


purchasing downloads blowz

[BonezShaker]

C'mon, get a cd or vinyl

[GREENWARRI0R]

The iTunes store will not close.

[AndrewMuller]

This should encourage something new. Perhaps a program or site were the Artists THEMSELVES sell the music. And they take an actualy fair share of the cut. As in like, 90%. As in, leave the record companies right out of it. Sadly impossible because it seems that the record companies own the music....wishful thinking I guess.

[homeskillet3259]

well this all over now the motion to hike royalties failed...

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3VlcR9gb5A d3aCQ7b9QUZgOUJ_g

[dupaman]

itunes store is a ****in ripoff anyway

[Phoenix_24Leas]

davlop91 wrote:

Well, i know you can download music form other sites. So its just gonna be iTunes (like the library and shit) without iTunes store?
-xCaMRocKx- wrote:

davlop91 wrote:

So if I have an iPod, where am I going to get my music from?


You're not serious? This been said so many times, you DON'T need itunes store to put music in itunes! You can get your music from ANYWHERE and put it on itunes.

yes

[pyritmann]

people call us pirate for downloading music, these people are the criminals for stealing all this money from people who think they are paying the artist, while fat comupter nerds get 85 percent, its a total shame that these greedy chumps rule the world.

[Aerotides]

I can't believe some of you guys are surprised about this.

[IbanezBassman]

goon316 wrote:

Thats why I rarely buy any cd's from the artists I enjoy but go to every one of their concerts. They make a little off the cd's but make most of their money off of tours and merch.

Much the same. I goto the concerts. I illegally download music and I buy some at the record stores. I don't use iTunes I don't like it. Shit range. Too expensive. CD stores are cheaper for albums

[IbanezBassman]

By the way Robert Smith (Cure) really hates iTunes too. He's gone off at them a bit lately. Hope it stays so CD's are cheap

[rhcpfan118]

this is bullshit. a. they're not shutting down iTunes, they're shutting down the iTunes Music Store... which still sucks, b. 10 cents may not seem like a big deal, but multiply that by millions of songs and it adds up, now multiply those millions of songs time the hundreds of times they're bought and it is absurd.

i'd rather have iTunes than CDs, at least that way i can buy the songs i want and not have to buy a lot of shitty songs to go along with the ones i like. (not that that's always the case) this will just make piracy go up 10 fold.

[rhcpfan118]

either way, artists get an upfront check for their recordings... they make little to no money off of media sales, it's mostly concerts, appearances, and merchandise. **** the record labels.

[YetAnotherMuso]

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

next article, "Kurt Cobain's Ashes to be Smoked"...connection? here's my conspiracy theory, it's like when you eat your enemies and gain their power, big corporations are actually smoking the stolen remains of their enemy (Cobain) which induces them into a MONEY GRABBING FRENZY ...aluminium foil hats on people!

[draceul]

It's not like their ripping off the artists.
The artists get a certain percentage on the sales. It's not like itunes is buying the CD for 15 bucks and then selling the music... and people buy music off of itunes because it's easier, faster, and cheaper, so the artists probably make more money off of itunes than the CD's.

[Andy2k64]

Wow i think Apple are going a bit power crazy! I think Steve Jobs just wants a new ferarri or some sh*t!

[gibson-sg-rocks]

i tunes rob record companies who rob the artists. i dont care about shiit pop sellout radio craap, but rock and roll will save us. so sccrew iTunes, they can burn in hell for all i care.

[YetAnotherMuso]

jetfuel495 wrote:

archangelseren wrote:

not make enough money.... 85% share? what the hell those apple people been smoken...

kurt cobains ashes?

dammit, and here I was thinking I was original for my joke...kudos to you my man

[zombiekangaroo]

haha, thats rich, lol, i hope apple store gets shut down and piracy goes up 10 fold,

what im really hoping doesnt happen is everybody switches to microsoft's zune, the thing sucks compared to the ipod

[Tabassco]

I think ALL of you (didn't read every comment) are overlooking something very important.

Apple does indeed get a big share of the money that is earned by selling songs, but they never get payed for music that ISN'T sold... Think about it. There are hundreds of bands that never even sold a song on iTunes, but for whom Apple still payed to have their song on iTunes.

[Mulldarran]

Who the hell needs Apple anyway? We've been buying CD's for twenty years, lets keep it that way.

lachlandavis wrote:

I do not understand how they could POSSIBLY operarate at a LOSS when they are giving 9CENTS to artists whilst charging over a dollar a track!! What are they spending the money on?

advertising, servers, people to run those servers, the programmers who continually work to update itunes, lawyers, accountants, shareholder dividends etc.

regardless of anything else. apple is a business. they're not going to operate at a loss and they're not going to want to give away more money than necessary. That's capitalism.

don't like it? tough, it's pretty well embedded in the modern world.

checked.

[Aerotides]

bucketned wrote:

sooooo
ill just keep buying Cds like i have since i was nine...
problems?
yay, nay?

alright then settled


purchasing downloads blowz

Actually it's really convenient from Amazon. The download manager is great. i use the amazon store for when I'm just too impatient to wait for a CD to be shipped to me, seeing as how there are no good record stores around here.

[r0ckz0mb13]

JahCohBee wrote:

Nick1814 wrote:

Where the **** did this news come from? Itunes isn't going anywhere.
Now delete this shit.


chrisdazzo wrote:

It won't happen. People would flip the f**k out.

True story.. I wish you people would realize that ITUNES IS TOO BIG TO FAIL!!! Haha.. ok sorry, bad reference... But seriously, come on.. they're the #1 seller of music today... I highly doubt they're gonna just shut down like that... Steve Jobs is just gonna throw a hissy fit and whine but other than that it'll be ok!

but its true...apple wont go anywhere...same reason thy dont make smoking illeagal.....too many people do it for them to stop all at once.

[guitarfreak222]

KtuluCalls wrote:

JRowe3388 wrote:

Why do people assume an iPod can only play music bought on iTunes?

well people are stupid. I mean all you need is windows media and a sync cable and your good. at least thats what I do with my phone.

yeah thats your phone! I pods need music from the itunes library, it doesnt necessarily mean that the music has to be bought of the store. you can just put music from your cd onto the itunes library, and sync it onto yur ipod! see? easy.

[Deflection]

iTunes sucks anyway.

[Biohazard]

Scorge wrote:

arrayofemotions wrote:

I'm not certain of this, but i think 15% royalties is a lot more than the royalties artists get from regular CD sales. 4.8% does sound more likely.


the article was talking an increase of cents, not PERcent.

15 cents is 15% of a dollar.....

[Hungry_Hameds]

meh who cares, i still by cds im so primitive, there's something about having the album and playing it on a stereo and personal cd player that i enjoy more than just downloading or whatever. If people are real music fans they'll still get their music, if piracy was such a massive problem the consequences would be big enough to actually put people off doing it...

[racman92]

I love iTunes, but come on! I buy cds if I'm getting the whole CD, but if I only like one song, I'm not going to waste my money on the whole cd, like i did with Hinder...

[BassFishin]

i love the cd resale place thats about 2 miles from my house. i go there and spend tons of money of perfectly good cd's that no one wants anymore. that's how i do it. now, maybe the artists aren't getting money from it, but it's much more morally sound than limewire. itunes on the other hand i could give a crap about. whats the fun in owning a cd when you dont physically OWN the cd itself?

[pinkfloydfish]

Um... yeah, that's crap. If they're gonna shut down just because they have to give the people who MADE the music more of their share, then they deserve to be gone.

[Tabassco]

In the meanwhile, Apple won the case.

[str84ever]

JS5150 wrote:

Pay the musicians, without them, no one would need iTunes, or an iPod for that matter

as weird as it sounds. I NEED ITUNES.

Theres music i listen to which i can't just go down to the local music shop and buy either cause its out of print or too obscure.

Itunes is the only place that stocks it and although i would prefer physical copies I am not up for paying £50 for an album when i can get it for £8 off itunes.