Highl.i.t - Entrepreneurship, life-hacking and le web.
Tags


Filed under

Amazon

 
August 2, 2009

My girlfriend broke up with iTunes.

So, after a long and mutually beneficial relationship my girlfriend broke up with iTunes.

A few months ago, the introduction of a variable pricing model to the iTunes store wasn't exactly met with a warm reception. The vast majority of iTunes users are affected by the change, simply as a result of their taste in music, but whether this affects their spending habits is yet to be seen.

Competition in the music download space is tense, with the two main runners being Amazon with their young but gun-ho MP3 store and Apple with its deep rooted iTunes store. I can safely say that up until a few months ago I would have got into bed with iTunes every time, but that's changing.

Just looking at the top 10 list of singles available both from iTunes and Amazon, it's a no brainer which is the better choice for consumer. Downloading 256K non-drm tracks from Amazon still allows you to import them into your iTunes library, removing a barrier to entry most people would be put off by.

I never really took into account the real impact this change for iTunes would have, but a real music fan closes the door on 1 Infinite Loop, that's when you know there's trouble ahead.

What's your opinion on this variable pricing model, and how could iTunes fight back? Sound off in the comments. [image courtesy of engadget.com]

Filed under  //   Amazon   Apple   iTunes   MP3   Store  
Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [1]