CNN predicts iTunes Music Store downfall

To Jeff: I'd rather listen to a m4a over a CD any day. CDs are grating and two dimensional, while m4as give a much pleasanter listen and a open, three dimensional sound stage. To The Jeremy: "And the accounting scandal allowed TimeWarner partisans to snatch control back away from the AOLers" Thanks for making my point! What happened with the two "synergies" was that AOL was lying about their net worth. A bad start to any merger, don't you think? especially when the ones making the false reports were the ones who were supposed to be the bigger company. AOL worth more than TW? C"MON! Credibility helps big time when mixing synergies. "And furthermore, AOL Music offers Apple's iTunes Music Store to its subscribers. And AOL is still part of TimeWarner." Well, gee, couldn't that be because that ITMS does hold the largest part of the market, and AOL probably knows that ITMS appeals to the large majority of its subscriber base. If AOL blocked ITMS from being accessed over it's network in favor of AOL music, subscribers would leave in droves. AOL got what it deserved in the merger with TW. And, actually, TW got what it deserved, too, because it went into the merger blind. Five minutes of Internet research by ANYONE would've brought out the fact that AOL liked to get funky with their financial numbers, and their real net worth was always far less than what they represented it to be. I hope that the people who told TW that merging with AOL was a good idea are now all flipping burgers at White Castle; that'd be perfect for their intelligence level.

To Poster # 12: Warner Music Group has been separate from the rest of TimeWarner for more than a year. Its a private company until the upcoming IPO. As for AOL and Time Warner, that's the fault of TimeWarner itself. Many people at TimeWarner did not like the AOL people telling them what to do and making them cooperate with each other. AOL had the best chance to finally force the *synergies* out of the monolith that Steve Ross had promised shareholders back in 1989 with the original Time Inc. and Warner Communications merger but failed to deliver because everything in the TimeWarner empire is/was run like a private fiefdom. For example, AOL couldn't force Time Warner Cable to give them a premiere tier as an ISP, and the rest of the TimeWarner management didn't force the issue. AOL owned a big chunk of TiVo. Time Warner Cable would not use TiVo hardware for DVR settop boxes nor license the TiVo GUI even though it is superior to anything shlockfest Scientific Atlanta offers. And the accounting scandal allowed TimeWarner partisans to snatch control back away from the AOLers. Truth be told, TimeWarner should probably split up just as Viacom is planning to do next year because nobody wants to force all the divisions to work together and Richard Parsons doesn't seem to be interested in forcing them to do so either. Parsons could've raised an antitrust issue to block Comcast from acquiring AT&T Broadband until AOL was allowed as a billable ISP option for Comcast Cablemodem service, but he didn't. So much for the empty advertising statement from Comcast about how "more Americans choose Comcast Broadband than anyone else" that they tout. And furthermore, AOL Music offers Apple's iTunes Music Store to its subscribers. And AOL is still part of TimeWarner.

"It's safe to say that nobody can sustain an 80 percent market share in a consumer electronics business for more than two or three years. It's pretty much impossible." Hrmmm... tell that to Micro$oft.

Sorry, I didn't have time to read all the previous posts, so if this is the second time this opinion comes around, oops... All that I hope is that the recording labels don't get angry enough that they pull out of itms and the likes and then create their own online stores (easy enough for them to do). This way they'd make tons of money, and they'd have tons more control. Good Luck Apple Inc.

Apple to record companies: "Drop dead (already)" - to this I say amen.

There is a great story on the 8/19 episode of NPR's On The Media detailing how record companies leak artists tracks to "mix tape" djs in order to create buzz for their artists. So, for these folks to then turn around and shake the trees, cry foul and start taking kids to court is just utter hypocrisy. They probably want iTMS to charge $18 per album like "the good ol' days." In my opinion their days are numbered and I'm glad. You don't need a record company as much as you used to and I'll be glad when those terrible-music-pushing whiners stop trying to limit every personal use freedom we have and just go away.

James Hare, Let me get this straight. You refused to buy a CD in a store because it had so called copy protection on it. Instead you paid $4 more to download it from iTMS? Is your download different from mine? Because the last I checked, iTMS put copy protection on all its music. Plus you get it in an inferior format. If you own a Mac, there is no such thing as copy protected CD's. The copy protection only works on Windows computers.

CNN is just towing the line for their parent company, Time Warner, because: A: They own Warner Bros. Records, an old, die-in-the-wool record company who, like the rest of the record industry, sees any change in their monopolistic reign over consumers as "bad." B: They are still bitter that AOL was able to pull one over on them, and was able to deliver to TW the biggest screwing ever. Therefore, TW would like to see any, and all, tech companies "burn in hell."' 'This is what we want to do,' and if you disagree with them you're an idiot. It's like dealing with a cult."' ... Seems like a pretty successful business model to me. It has worked for Apple for nearly 30 years.

nobody can sustain an 80 percent market share in a consumer electronics business for more than two or three years. It's pretty much impossible What's Windows' share of the home market? 1995 was ten years ago, right?

Ya know, the iTMS will always get my money before the record companies, because the record companies put out cds I can't put on my iPod without going through a bunch of crap. That's not acceptable. Hell, I paid the iTMS $17.99 for the new Foo Fighters album that was selling in stores for $13.99 just because I knew it was copy-protected. Until the music industry promises me every CD I buy can be ripped onto my iPod, iTMS it is. Hell I'll probably even stay with iTMS even if they were to do that--I like giving my money to Apple alot more than the record companies (and yes, I know alot goes to them, but Apple gets a profit).