Over six months after it was first unveiled, iTunes LP is a total bust. Apple launched its interactive album format with a library of six iTunes LPs: since, only 23 more have been added to iTunes.
What the heck happened? According to Paul Bonanos writing over at GigaOm, it all comes down to two things: the iTunes LP is incredibly expensive to produce, and Apple really never wanted to do it in the first place.
Bonanos says that sources close to Apple that iTunes LP was a concession made by Cupertino to the major record labels in exchange for allowing DRM-free songs, a gesture that Apple would promote albums in the face of massive evidence that consumers preferred digital singles. They even subsidized the initial half dozen albums as a good will gesture, paying third-party contractors up to $60,000 a pop.
Despite that, however, Apple was really never invested in iTunes LP, and consumers just don’t care about it. Bonanos says his sources claim that the financial impact of iTunes LP has basically been non-existent.
Personally, I always loved the idea of iTunes LP: the move to digital music has been wonderful, but it has completely robbed me of the experience of buying a new album, reading the liner notes (these tend to be a lot more informative if you’re a jazz fan) and looking at the album art. iTunes LP tried to simulate that… but no one really cared, apparently. Even Apple.
[via 9to5Mac]
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
