Ways to make I-Tunes look more enticing to the average penny-pinching consumer (1 Viewer)

[John McM]

1. Cheaper prices? 49 cents sounds good. If you download an entire cd for 49 cents per song, that'd be $4.99-$6.99... about common for a USED cd (since it should be on par with used cd's as the quality of mp3's are not comparable to new cd's, and buying a cd worth of mp3's for more than an actual used copy is a jip).

2. Pass the savings onto the consumer. How about mailing the consumers coupons after purchasing songs. For example, if one downloads "What You Waiting For" by Gwen Stefani, then they are sent a coupon (redeemable anywhere) to save $3 on the purchase of Gwen's L.A.M.B. cd. That is especially workable for people who download, then buy the actual copies of cd if they like what they hear.

3. Keep using acts like U2 in the commercials singing new songs. Showing "we have Vertigo by U2 for download" is a lot more enticing to the average consumer than showing overweight 50 year old women rapping to Baby Got Back and Rapper's Delight, songs that are so old and played out that WE should be the ones paid for having to hear them again at this point.

4. Like many clubs (ala BMG/Columbia House), have specials. Like "download 1, get 2 free" or stuff like that specials, kinda like "buy 2, get 3 free CD's" specials they have at BMG quite frequently. Or have a "discount section" of certain tracks much like BMG/Columbia House have. It'd be very interesting and I think it would work.

 

[Craig S]

This all pre-supposes that Apple NEEDS more ways to entice the average penny-pinching consumer - with over 230 million songs downloaded so far, and an additional 1.25 million dl'd every day, they seem to be sitting pretty. They just reported record earnings, and are on track to selling half a billion songs a year thru the iTunes Music Store.

Doesn't seem to me like they need any help, although I like your ideas (.49 per song sounds real good).

 

[cwhite]

I have always said that 99 cents per download was a little steep since iTunes started and I thought its competitors would strike back cutting their prices. But I think I may have purchased about $10 worth of music there. While Apple may be enjoying the fruits of its labor(bad pun), iTunes has stumbled on the PR side-remember the Pepsi 100 million downloads promotion a year ago? And I thought we would see a serious media blitz during Christmas for iTunes gift certificates along with the iPods.

 

[robertLP]

Actually, I'd pay a little *more* per song (say, $1.39) if they'd give me the option to download at a higher quality bitrate.

 

[Josh Simpson]

How cheap can you get I-pods these days? I'm thinking of getting one. Sorry, I guess I need to look around online and on this forum.


No need to answer. I answered the question myself.

 

[cwhite]

Apple products, like Sony high-end TVs and Microsoft operating systems, are rarely "on sale". However, that doesn't mean you can't get the iPod cheaper than retail. Your best bet for an iPod dealer is searching Amazon-chances are you'll pay less there for an iPod than Apple's retail store. In Apple's defense, you can search their re-conditioned items and get a previous generation iPod less than a new one.

 

[Chris]

I don't know, I always found .99 cents to be a damn good deal, better then what I paid for 45 RPM's when they were around or cassette singles.. both of which were lower quality (IMHO) then even the AAC's I'm downloading.

No, what ITunes needs is early releases. IE: "This CD will be released at your Store on Tuesday, but download it on Itunes 24 hours/72 hours early!"

 

[Scott L]

Same here! I downloaded Bohemian Rhapsody off iTunes and it really sounded lacking. Download the same song in 192kbps from Bearshare and it really sounded better. A real pain in the ass. AAC can even compress hi-resolution audio but I know that's just a pipe dream at this point.

As for lowering prices even more, I think purchasing a *single* song for $1 is a steal. If I like more songs on a particular album I head over to half.com and save even more.

 

[RichP]

The prices of the downloads are set by the labels, not by Apple. In order to even make the store minimally profitable, Apple needs to charge .99 because the labels are getting around .65 per download. So charging .49 would mean Apple would lose money on every single download, not a compelling business model when you have shareholders to answer to.

I'm pretty sure that Apple has an entire team devoted to ways of making the iTunes Music Store a better experience. Unfortunately most of your suggestions would have to be relayed to the labels and not to Apple.

 

[cwhite]

I understand completely about the 99 cents downloads and again the record company's myopic view of themselves. But I just heard this piece of news that made me happy: Pepsi and Apple are reviving the iTunes Music giveaway again. Not 100 million downloads but 200 million. It starts at the end of the month, leading up to the Super Bowl. Last year, the promotion only got 5 million.

 

[John McM]

well, it's not really a "free download" when you pay $1.09 for the Pepsi. It's not like you go online, fill out a survey and then as a token of your time, here's a free song. You're still spending the dollar.

 

[John McM]

I have two questions for those who use i-tunes.

1. I am a big fan of dance mixes. I listen to the dance station on DMX and AOL Radio all the time. I probably have downloaded more remixes than any other type of music, new, old, whatever.

Does I-Tunes offer remixes to download? For example, Destiny's Child just hit #1 on the dance chart with the Lose My Breath club mixes. If I was to type in that song on I-Tunes, would I just find the album version, or would it also carry the club mixes?

2. I have dial-up, yea, I know that is very 1996 of me. But I've had many occasions where I downloaded in the past, and then got knocked offline, either by a phone call or because the AOL (yes, how 1996 of me again) stopped responding. If I get kicked off in the middle of a download, 1. will I be able to resume? and 2. am I already charged for the song, so if I decided to resume where I left off, I'd have to pay double?

Thanks, those are two things I've wondered about i-tunes that have made me hesitant about joining.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Why not? You'd have paid the same for the Pepsi whether you got a download or not.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Whether or not they're in it for a profit, I'm pretty sure they're not in it for the joy of selling hundreds of millions (or billions) of songs at a $0.20/song loss. That was the Dot-Bomb business model: lose money on every sale, and make it up in volume.

 

[John McM]

maybe the labels shouldn't expect so much then.

In another post in this section, there's a new BMG-ish record club where you can buy unlimited cd's for $5.99, when you get to the bottom of things, that's about the same as 49 cents per track. If labels can handle selling cd's from record clubs or used for that type of pricing strategy, what real justification do they have for 99 cents for a non-cd quality MP3 when you can get 3 month old actual cd's for $5.99?

 

[JeremyErwin]

Record Companies hate the first sale doctrine.

 

[RichP]

Ah, to be young and naive again....

 

[Chris]

God, I hope Apple is in it at a profit, otherwise they would be out of their mind.

That having been said, the thing with the Pepsi/Apple giveaway isn't as simple as "see, it's the same pop!" Well, no, not really.. if I remember correctly, not every Pepsi had a "free download" it was something like 1 in 3 bottles or something like that, you had a "chance" for a free download, and people who bought twelve packs/etc. were guaranteed one. So, it was a good marketing campaign for Pepsi.. you paid $3.27, and you had a "shot" at a free download.. you could buy 20 and not win.. the idea was, you'd keep continuously buying pepsi with the incentive :0

 

[John McM]

can someone please answer my questions regarding i-tunes?

a thread with 20+ I-Tunes users and no one knows the answers to my questions regarding club remixes, and interrupted downloads?

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i see on your profile that you are a graduate student. go to www.apple.com/students and see if you can find your school. you can get the 20 GB ipod for $269, free shipping, and free engraving on the back.

CJ