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01-16-2005, 05:14 PM
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#1 of 23 
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Local Time: 05:24 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 352
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Ways to make I-Tunes look more enticing to the average penny-pinching consumer
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.
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01-16-2005, 08:06 PM
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#2 of 23
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Craig Seanor
Member
Location: League City, TX (just south of Planet Houston)
Join Date: Mar 2000
Local Time: 05:24 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 5,904
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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).
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01-16-2005, 09:18 PM
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#3 of 23
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Local Time: 05:24 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 289
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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.
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01-17-2005, 08:15 AM
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#4 of 23
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Local Time: 04:24 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 153
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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.
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01-17-2005, 11:19 AM
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#5 of 23
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Local Time: 05:24 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 922
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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.
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01-17-2005, 11:26 AM
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#6 of 23
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Local Time: 05:24 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
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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.
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01-17-2005, 08:59 PM
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#7 of 23
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Member
Join Date: Jul 1997
Local Time: 05:24 AM
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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!"
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01-18-2005, 05:07 AM
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#8 of 23
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Member
Location: Northern VA
Join Date: Mar 2000
Local Time: 06:24 AM
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Posts: 4,826
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Quote:
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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.
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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.
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01-18-2005, 09:43 AM
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#9 of 23
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Member
Location: New York City
Join Date: Aug 1998
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Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 293
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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.
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