So iTunes sales appear healthy, fueled by sales of new iPods. However, once that growth slows, Apple will need to do a better job of selling more songs to existing iPod owners. The inability to play those songs on non-iPod devices in the future and the fear of losing your music collection once you exceed the five authorized computers you can share your iTunes songs on might have something to do with the lack of enthusiasm once the initial novelty wears off.
- iTunes Sales are Just Fine, Thank You by Erik Schonfeld, The.next.net, 12.14.06
I've gone back on my claim last year that I was switching to strictly digital music and am now purchasing CDs again (as well as downloading un-DRMed music from services like eMusic, subscription stuff from URGE and the freebies from napster and iTunes). There are several reasons, vox being one of them. I music blog here pretty consistently and want my tracks to be tagged the way I want them and to have the artwork included and to be playable. Apple's m4p files are out of the question and their m4a recommended file import format doesn't tag in the smart ways that mp3 files do. I want to share my music and I want it portable, neither of which is something I can get out of the iTunes store.
Also, I miss album inserts and going to the record store. I used to be at Amoeba or other record joints at least once a month, now it's like once a season. That's not right. It means I don't catch music out of the corner of my eye. I've been driven by internet zeitgeist all year and that isn't enough.
So, back to CDs for me.
I'm so old school.