Report: iTunes LP is Over-priced, Under-Planned
1:09 am, October 9th, 2009, Pete Mortensen
So, a month ago, I wrote a post proclaiming iTunes LP to be the first digital album good enough to criticize. I would like to revise that assessment. It is, instead, the first major content misstep in the history of the iTunes Store.
At launch, Apple had six albums available in the format, which basically marries lyrics, album artwork, ad video content to your collection of AAC files. Scratch that, there were five albums and one musical comic book. It seemed like too little, but it was a launch — there were hardly any apps on the App Store when it came out, too. A month later, however, things have scarcely improved. We’ve gone from six offerings in iTunes LP to 13.
So what could be the problem? As it turns out, it’s the business model. According to Gizmodo, an indie record label owner asked Apple what it would take to get some of his albums available in the LP format. Apple’s reported answer? Be a major label. Seriously. Read on.
Allegedly, not only did the sales rep claim that iTunes LP will not be offered to independent labels, but Apple is charging a $10,000 production fee to create the files. In other words, this is less a new format for music than it is a new form of paid advertising on the iTunes store.
From the promise of recreating the magic of a physical album to the disappointment of a niche and waning paid ad format in less than a month. Sad. And a clear sign that Apple still hasn’t figured out how to improve the initial offering of iTunes music five years ago. They’ve increased the bit rate since then, and they’ve removed the DRM, but you’re still just buying digital audio files. There’s so much more that could be done with digital music than Apple has tried so far (Spotify and Lala are evidence of that), and yet we’re still waiting for them to make a halfway-decent digital album with lyrics.
They can do better. And I only hope the weak commitment to iTunes LP is evidence that they are right now.
Posted by Pete Mortensen in Apple, News, Top stories, iTunes | Comment on this article
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Not to mention, albums used to be cheaper on iTunes and now they can sometimes be several dollars higher! I can see how the hot new singles being a higher price could potentially work because some people will not want to buy the entire album, but why on earth would you want to spend $4-6 more on an iTunes album when you could get a physical copy for a cheaper price (without any extra bonuses mind you)?
Daniel, on October 9th, 2009 at 1:35 am
Man, there is one thing that I don’t like about buying digital music. Its that I don’t have a CD! I feel like I am getting my money’s worth when I have a CD in my hand instead of just files on a disk.
My solution, offer some sort of CD store that allows you to download the music right away after buying the CD. I mean you already own the content but it sucks waiting for CDs to come in the mail.
Best of both worlds right?
Brian, on October 9th, 2009 at 1:40 am
WTF! This is a major disappointment! It’s bad enough to spend over $10,000 for a souped up 8-Core Mac Pro 32GB DDR3 & 8TB (four 2TB Hard Drives) with Final Cut Studio, Logic Pro Studio plus equipment for photography, video and music. Then after all that I can’t do a iTunes LP that’s $10,000 for major labels ONLY?
LE Studios, on October 9th, 2009 at 2:22 am
but hey, do you want tons of low quality itunes lps spamming the store? how to find the good ones then? its like in the appstore right know. to much to find the right.
ben, on October 9th, 2009 at 2:42 am
I think this is an indication of the way Apple as a corporation is heading. Fading are the days of Apple’s elegance. Customer service is diminishing. Apple has discovered that it doesn’t have to be a niche company anymore and they’re getting power hungry. Quality will disappear in the shadow of quantity (and on that note, you offer 13 albums and one is paramora? C’mon). I just think we might be approaching the crest of Apple. We all know the problems that come with being on top.
Greg, on October 9th, 2009 at 3:16 am
I hate to burst everyone’s bubble but this is just plain s***! reporting. Apple has never told Indie labels they can not put out an LP, Apple has always preferred Indie labels and you can see that in their advertising alone. The charge of 10k is if Apple does the work which by the way is a lot of work, if you haven’t seen some of the LP’s you should because you then would know how much work is involved. However if the record company wants to make the LP themselves they can and it’s encouraged, Apple even talked about this when Steve launched it a few weeks ago. Apple will give them the tools just like an SDK and they can produce their own LP. Apple is not getting money hungry and did not miss the mark on this. Remember this is a new thing that was started less than a month ago. It will take time for record labels to produce this content, mark my words by the end of this year there will be hundreds of LPs available and you will be eating your words Mr. Mortensen!
Aaron, on October 9th, 2009 at 3:58 am
I bought the Muse LP and while it looked nice, it hardly looked like “a lot of work”. More like an animated mini-webiste, nothing more. Still, reading the lyrics and being able to read the production credits along with the artwork again was nice.
In fact, this could be a nice business extension for graphic designers and web developers, as it’s pretty much their cup of tea, and they can go crazy with all kinds of extras and easter eggs.
Tom, on October 9th, 2009 at 4:19 am
If Aaron is right then Pete mate I am really disappointed. I like it when us fans have a go at our favourite company to keep them competitive but to put out a propaganda piece against them is unconscionable.
saman Jebeli-Javan, on October 9th, 2009 at 4:36 am
@Daniel: Digital pricing is getting increasingly bizarre. I never buy LPs on iTunes, because they’re more expensive than physical product. Same goes for TV – it’s absurd that a season of something like House or South Park often costs double what the DVD box-set goes for.
@ben: High budget doesn’t equate to low quality.
As for the indies thing, I would hope there isn’t a blanket charge and that anyone can upload their own LP (within spec). 10 grand is way out of the budget of many indies, clearly, but they could make something comparable themselves.
Craig Grannell, on October 9th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I just can’t believe they launched with so little content, I’d like to buy an iTunes LP out of curiousity.. but I can’t justify it with the albums that are out.
Pete, on October 9th, 2009 at 5:26 am
I hope Weezer put out their new album in LP
and songs one day go back to .99 (All Songs)
Core, on October 9th, 2009 at 8:20 am
iTunes LPs would only be worth looking into if they had ALAC versions of the songs. Otherwise the buyer is better served getting the CD.
Martin, on October 9th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I agree with Aaron on this.
This is a B.S FUD Article with no proof or backing of the accusations made and since we are seeing a “Blogger Wa”r: going on in the recent month’s for whoever can get the most information out even it is true or not is a loss to all.
A recent report came out and said that News organizations including those who report on Tech news have a problem with journalistic integrity and truth, since such Bloggers are not held to any standards of integrity the best way you can look at them is ” Entertainment Paparazzi ” style “Story’s” and not as fact.
Show the Proof instead of making up News. “PROOF”
Unfortunately it’s About the Clicks other then the truth more opinion pages them Fact’s.
Click Click Money Money…. the Truth what Truth you want story’s..
The era of the Click Whores.
Zor, on October 9th, 2009 at 10:54 am
@Aaron
I hope you’re right. But if you read the original story, the record label owner sounded like he was planning to make his own iTunes LP and submitting it to the store and he was told not to. It’s anecdotal, but the complete lack of albums in the format is a pretty good sign that this isn’t taking off.
I want thousands of albums in this format, and I want it to be accessible to make and free to participate. So far, it’s quite obvious this isn’t happening.
Pete Mortensen, on October 9th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
OMG. this whole thing is what 6 weeks old, not 6 years old. of course there will be a limited selection (say with the Extras feature). they aren’t going to invest the time and movie to do this to every album if no one is interested. Just like they aren’t going to take up space in their stores for an anti-glare laptop that no one buys
as for folks griping about prices. they are essentially the same as the suggested retail. yes sometimes some places buy in bulk and get a discount but the SRP on those box sets really is closer to $50 than $20. Apple doesn’t have the liberty of ‘buying bulk’ so they can’t drop the price on everything, but when they can, they do offer season pass deals which are equal to what you’ll pay later for that discounted box set
Charli, on October 9th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
@Aaron – If you know something I don’t, I’d love to see it. I got my word directly from my distributor. After I asked them to look into how I get an LP posted they spoke with their rep and came back to me with that information. I was told that it’s not being offered to indies and that Apple is charging 10 grand for production fees. I wanted to have some designer friends make one for us and was basically told that we couldn’t.
If Steve Jobs would like to call me and explain it better I’m more than happy to entertain his call. Fact of the matter is I’ve been an Apple fan since buying my first Gen 1 iPod (5 gig, weighing in at about 35lbs) and iBook. We have the bulk of our online sales through iTunes and I’m grateful for that. I’m not making up a story, I’m telling mine.
Maybe iTunes will roll out a developer tool tomorrow (and I can eat my words) or maybe they’ll give me a free LP to make up for my emotional damages. I don’t know.
@Ben – Regarding low-quality LPs spamming the store… have you listened to some of the music that’s selling thousands of copies? You shouldn’t edit for content. It’s the consumer’s choice to buy it or not buy it. It shouldn’t be Apple’s choice who can develop it. If iTunes wants to tell me they won’t sell my albums because they don’t think they’re good enough then that’d be a whole other story, wouldn’t it?
Cheers!
Brian
Brian McKinney, on October 9th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
@Pete Mortensen who said, “the record label owner sounded like he was planning to make his own iTunes LP and submitting it to the store and he was told not to” Then who is the indie label and where is the proof to back up their claim? Rumours are NOT reporting…
Ictus75, on October 10th, 2009 at 1:02 am
Read a short Q&A with Brian McKinney @
http://www.aemmp.org/site/2009/10/12/itunes-lp-vs-chocolate-lab-records-q-a-with-brian-mckinney/
Trevor, on October 12th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
It Was ALL F.U.D McKinney was caught in a lie and then tried to cover it up, and now he comes out trying to cover hiss A** even here on cult of mac on Oct 9.
McKinney, You started something cause you wanted to believe it without proof that your information was correct, This in turn trying to blame someone else for the supposed wrong information fails miserably and you have lost any credibility you may have had if their was any to begin with.
11:22 | Tuesday October 13, 2009
Apple said today that it does not charge a production fee for iTunes LP, after an independent label in the US claimed that it was being priced out of the market for the new format.
Brian McKinney, who runs Chicago’s Chocolate Lab Records, claimed at the weekend that iTunes charges a $10,000 production fee for iTunes LP, a new digital format that pairs additional content such as lyrics and videos with album downloads.
In a follow up email, Mckinney adds, “I should note that it is currently possible to design an iTunes LP independently. I’ve tested a couple designs on iTunes and they work great. The problem is that Apple won’t let you sell them through their store. So, the $10,000 production fee isn’t the barrier, it’s the exclusion of indie labels and artists by Apple. We love iTunes, hate exclusion. Hopefully that will change. Hopefully we will speed up the process.”
However, an iTunes spokesman says the fee is fiction. “There is no production fee charged by Apple,” he says. “We’re releasing the open specs for iTunes LP soon, allowing both major and indie labels to create their own.”
http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1038901&c=1
McKinney, No words can describe the disgust in your jump to make news, you have failed to show any professionalism and have hurt your credibility and those whom you represent, Also the failure goes to those who don’t ask for Proof in a “story” and this hurts those who strive to be as honest as they can with reporting truth.
Zor, on October 13th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Somebody just got his ass beaten. lol
DellPHAIL, on October 13th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
????
Does anyone on this thread even bother doing some actual research on dumb stories before they go off the deep end and start whining about stuff they have no idea what their talking about?
Firstly this is a completely new format and of coarse in the beginning its going to be limited. Currently at the time of this post we only have 13 LP selections in the store but in another few months time we’ll probably have 30 or 40, in a years time we’ll have 2 or 300 more, and in a couple more years probably 1000s of titles to choose from. What people have to learn is to just stop whining and be patient. As posted above the open specs for Itunes LP will soon be released to the record companies both high rollers and indie labels alike and no doubt they will eventually start providing more content for the LP enthusiast. The story about paying 10 000 is all a lot of BS so everyone take a deep breath stop pooping out industrial farms and get on with your lives already. The story came from Gizmodo for crying out loud and anyone with half a brain knows Gizmodo 75% of the time just post a lot of crap that makes absolutely no sense. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!
Secondly if you don’t like Apple pricing, software, business models, etc etc then just DON’T BUY APPLE products and buy a pc with windows. The advantage of this is the bloggers who always wine about how crappy Apple is and how power hungry the company is can go to the Microsoft blog posts and whine over there. This would be a wonderful event for the simple fact I could finally read a thread without some fool screaming about how this or that is to expensive and that specific Apple content doesn’t have something he/she specifically wants. Apple exists to try and make money and provide a overall product which will appeal to a larger overall customer base. Just because Apple refuses to incorporate a certain feature that one or 2 joe blows want doesn’t make their products a crappy product it means those 1 or 2 joe blows are shit heads for thinking a mega corp will cater to their specific demands. GROW UP ALREADY!!!! If you don’t like something then just don’t buy it and SHUT UP already.
specifically @LEstudios
Directly quoted by him….
WTF! This is a major disappointment! It’s bad enough to spend over $10,000 for a souped up 8-Core Mac Pro 32GB DDR3 & 8TB (four 2TB Hard Drives) with Final Cut Studio, Logic Pro Studio plus equipment for photography, video and music. Then after all that I can’t do a iTunes LP that’s $10,000 for major labels ONLY?
Read above paragraph 10 times and get it in your thick skull. You don’t want to spend all that money then spend half of it on a pc and then go scream at Microsoft about how crappy their software is. You have no room to whine you chose to spend that kind of money, which I find is probably bullshit for the simple reason you don’t need to spend that kind of money to do the kind of work your implying. A 10 000 dollar system is used more by engineers, architects etc because they need that kind of crunching power. For music and simple graphic applications you can get away with spending half that so either you’re full of crap or you’re that stupid.
Final summation:
If you don’t like something STFU don’t buy it and go buy something else. If people would just use their heads even 25% of the time I wouldn’t have to waste my time reading all these BS post as well as above BS article. But hey the author apparently got the reaction he was looking for namely all the boo birds came to his site to roost creating web traffic for his net article. Personally I find it a sad statement when a individual has to resort to hack reporting to get his article noticed.
Porkchop1234, on October 21st, 2009 at 12:31 am
P.S.
Before the retarded posts start being posted up about how hard it is to make a ITunes LP and needing cutting edge hardware to create them etc. I suggest everyone take a look at the following site.
http://ituneslp.net/
You’ll see there’s some nice tutorials provided on how to create your own iTunes Lp as well as some added downloads from SOME INDIE BANDS who went out of their way and invested the work and personal sweat into creating some iTunes LP format records. Heck the site even offers indie bands an opportunity to have their own iTunes LP by having the site team create it for them. I took the liberty of actually downloading one and adding it to my iTunes and it runs just fine. Anyone who thinks that you need to be a brainiac to learn HTML and utilize flash or that you need a $10 000 plus system to actually create this format is full of it.
Everybody settle down stop the whining and try actually posting something that will actually lead to productive and creative blogging. If you find you can’t do that without whining then send me your address and I’ll send you a baby soother in the mail.
Porkchop1234, on October 21st, 2009 at 10:06 pm