nashBridges:If that isn't a winning plan I don't know what is.

b*t*rr*nt

Can Verizon VCast take on iTunes?

No.

Next question.

FTA:

Ed Ruth, director of digital music for Verizon, said that the company is simply trying to offer customers choices.

"Of course we recognize that Apple has done a great job," he said. "They have helped tell the digital music story quite well, and they've tilted the ecosystem in one direction. But in some ways they have trapped people into one experience. And that's the problem we're trying to solve."

This coming from a Verizon employee? OMFG LOL.

More accurately, RealNetwork's Rhapsody service is taking on iTunes via partnerships with iLike, Yahoo, MTV, and Verizon to offer DRM-free MP3's for purchase (or rental).
/.rm sucks

If Verizon is selling it, then it is overpriced and comes with too many strings attached.

Doesn't someone try to 'take on iTunes' about once a month?

It must've made selling 5,000,000,000 songs very difficult.

theurge14:FTA:

Ed Ruth, director of digital music for Verizon, said that the company is simply trying to offer customers choices.

"Of course we recognize that Apple has done a great job," he said. "They have helped tell the digital music story quite well, and they've tilted the ecosystem in one direction. But in some ways they have trapped people into one experience. And that's the problem we're trying to solve."

This coming from a Verizon employee? OMFG LOL.

Verizon that refused unlocked phones on their network, took perfectly good phones and locked them down with proprietary BREW and crippled the BT on my phone so it was good for nothing but BT headsets, both file transferring and data modem disabled. I LOL'd

FTA Ed Ruth, director of digital music for Verizon, said that the company is simply trying to offer customers choices.

"Of course we recognize that Apple has done a great job," he said. "They have helped tell the digital music story quite well, and they've tilted the ecosystem in one direction. But in some ways they have trapped people into one experience. And that's the problem we're trying to solve."

Translation: Apple are getting all the money, and now we want some.

'Tilted the ecosystem" sheesh!

I'm a Verizon customer, and I refuse to use the Vcast for ANYTHING simply out of principle. They could give away BJs on that thing and I still wouldn't use it.

RubberFootMan:

'Tilted the ecosystem" sheesh!

Marketing is such a BS "profession". All they do is make-up phrases and tout how important they are.

harryasaboy:More accurately, RealNetwork's Rhapsody service is taking on iTunes via partnerships with iLike, Yahoo, MTV, and Verizon to offer DRM-free MP3's for purchase (or rental).
/.rm sucks

What seems to be happening in the music industry is that now the majors are now blaming Apple, the biggest digital distributor, for their profit collapse that has been happening with the collapse of CD sales over the last few years. What is really happening is that customers for almost 10 years now have increasingly desired to get their music digitally instead of in $18 shrink wrap CDs at Sam Goody's. At first they had to pirate them online as there was no legal alternative when Lars was testifying before Congress against Napster. Later when iTunes showed up people were able to purchase individual songs for $0.99. The labels *hate* their inability to convince Apple to let them set the single prices. So now they're blaming Apple that $0.99 singles are killing their profits. They were telling acts like Radiohead and The Beatles for ages that the $0.99 singles are going to kill their album sales. Now that Radiohead is selling online and The Beatles are on the verge of doing so (whenever Yoko Ono drops the crazy), they're just now deciding to let Apple alternative stores like Amazon and Rhapsody sell DRM free tracks in order to wrest the $0.99 pricing control out of Apple's hands.

I say screw the labels. They're the middleman that needs to be cut out. I hardly think most artists today need the 'marketing' labels provide given that Myspace/etc buzz seems to be working for newer acts. I don't think A&R is needed now that the online stores and online music magazines seem to be doing a good job of highlighting up and coming acts to customers. The only function I see majors having left is fronting up money for big acts to tour. But as far as labels being mass-producing distributors, I think that shiat is done. And I think the movie studios are nervous as they watch the record labels sink like this.

"Gimmie this on that thar 8 legged chicken. To lose."

/Squidbillies for the WIN.

theurge14:What seems to be happening in the music industry is that now the majors are now blaming Apple

I have no idea why you quoted me - my comment corrected submitter's insinuation that VCast (a Verizon product)is iTunes' newest threat when in fact RealNetworks is the new challenger. VCast is merely one of Rhapsody's methods to cut into Apple's sales.

To your comment... Myspace, online stores and online music magazines do virtually nothing to (successfully) promote new music. They merely profit from marketing that's already been done. They also have no ties to concert venues (ask Pearl Jam about touring without a record label) or radio stations. Record labels may be teh devil, but they are still necessary for most bands. It won't be iTunes or any other retailer that kills them - just their profits.

no swordplay pleeze

beoswulf:
Verizon that refused unlocked phones on their network, took perfectly good phones and locked them down with proprietary BREW and crippled the BT on my phone so it was good for nothing but BT headsets, both file transferring and data modem disabled. I LOL'd

THIS

What the hell is a VCast?


/Has Verizon cell fone

Majick Thise:What the hell is a VCast?


/Has Verizon cell fone


Verizon's cockamamie attempt at media distribution. Think iTunes on a mobile phone, only Verizon did it instead of Apple.

Car Ramrod:They could give away BJs on that thing and I still wouldn't use it.

Riiiight!

Because of DRM, I started buying MP3s from Amazon a month ago. The only reason I didn't start until recently was that I didn't actually know that they had a selection that rivals iTunes.

I still get stuff from iTunes if Amazon doesn't have it, though.

VCast will only rival iTunes when they make a far better interface for the phone, and web app for the computer. I'm not going to use my phone's tiny screen to surf for music.

There are far easier ways to get music. And no, I'm not talking about BT.

Erm... y'all do realize that a good portion of the music on iTunes is DRM free now, right? Look for the "+" sign.

Of course, I don't really see why DRM is such a big deal. The music plays on my computer (iTunes), on my car stereo (iPod adaptor), on my home stereo (via Airport Express/iTunes), and I can burn it to CD if I really want to carry it somewhere.

What's the big deal? How many places are you trying to put your music that DRM is causing you so many problems?

theurge14:they're just now deciding to let Apple alternative stores like Amazon and Rhapsody sell DRM free tracks in order to wrest the $0.99 pricing control out of Apple's hands.

Exactly THIS.

Apple doesn't want DRM. They've been trying to get the labels to give it up for years. The labels are just using the "no DRM" stuff to get Apple to raise their prices (that's why iTunes DRM free music cost $1.29 for a while).

Apple's the good guy in this, even though you all hate to admit or even think that. If it wasn't for them, we'd be paying $3 for a track of DRM'd music.

harryasaboy:To your comment... Myspace, online stores and online music magazines do virtually nothing to (successfully) promote new music. They merely profit from marketing that's already been done. They also have no ties to concert venues (ask Pearl Jam about touring without a record label) or radio stations. Record labels may be teh devil, but they are still necessary for most bands. It won't be iTunes or any other retailer that kills them - just their profits.

What you say may have been true 10, 5 maybe even 3 years ago. But not now. Artists such as Lily Allen, Vampire Weekend, My Morning Jacket, Bat For Lashes, Colbie Caillat, etc, have all found their first large following Myspace and sites like it. Trent Reznor is doing a pretty brisk business online now, and Youtube is now the place where music videos get seen now, not MTV, as the band OK Go have shown when they posted their video for Here It Goes Again (the one where they are on the treadmills at the gym).

I just ordered a bunch of cd's, (and am still shopping for a turntable), so I'm really getting a kick...

/bring lossless drm-free music, or I'm really not interested
//oh yeah, no iTunes software either
///off my lawn and all that.

Sergio_Van_Lukenstein:Because of DRM, I started buying MP3s from Amazon a month ago. The only reason I didn't start until recently was that I didn't actually know that they had a selection that rivals iTunes.

I still get stuff from iTunes if Amazon doesn't have it, though.

Ditto for me, though I haven't seen that last condition occur much lately. Works through the browser (mostly...), comes out as simple ol' mp3 at 265-320K, can be plopped onto the Sansa or dissected with Audacity at will. No fuss, no problems, no beady-eyed suspicion nor any reason for same.

On a different note, though, if iTunes works for someone, good for them. Whatever happened to debating the aesthetic merits of the actual music, rather than waging these petty little file-format catfights? More a general question than one directed at Sergio_Van_Lukenstein...

so what, they're going to charge $7 a song and a monthly access fee on top of it?

/DNRTFA
//has VZW, hates it with a passion

Will Continue to Monitor:Sergio_Van_Lukenstein:Because of DRM, I started buying MP3s from Amazon a month ago. The only reason I didn't start until recently was that I didn't actually know that they had a selection that rivals iTunes.

I still get stuff from iTunes if Amazon doesn't have it, though.

Ditto for me, though I haven't seen that last condition occur much lately. Works through the browser (mostly...), comes out as simple ol' mp3 at 265-320K, can be plopped onto the Sansa or dissected with Audacity at will. No fuss, no problems, no beady-eyed suspicion nor any reason for same.

On a different note, though, if iTunes works for someone, good for them. Whatever happened to debating the aesthetic merits of the actual music, rather than waging these petty little file-format catfights? More a general question than one directed at Sergio_Van_Lukenstein...

BE wary of the obvious transcoding shenanigans of Amazon. It is common knowledge that they up-convert 128 and 192 source material to 256 and 320 mp3s.

would work if v-cast didn't suck and they matched the $1 per song pricing.