Amazon kicks iTunes in the butt

Uncategorized 0 Minutes

Omar Shahine earned a spot on my link blog with this post comparing iTunes to Amazon’s music service.

Advertisements

Published by Robert Scoble

I give you a front-row seat on the future. Focusing most of my efforts now on next-generation augmented reality and artificial intelligence, AKA "mixed reality." SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: http://clevermoe.com/scobleizer-news/ BUY OUR NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Transformation-Robert-Scoble/dp/1539894444 "The Fourth Transformation: How augmented reality and artificial intelligence will change everything." WATCH MY LATEST SPEECHES: State of VR with Philip Rosedale (done in VR itself, very cool): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAA1EVGUZU At GEOINT, June 2017: http://trajectorymagazine.com/glimpse-new-world/ Augmented World Expo, June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xHILvLD8E At Leade.rs, April 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI +++++++++++ BIO: Scoble gives you a front-row seat on the future. Literally. He had the first ride in the first Tesla. Siri was launched in his house. He's been the first to share all sorts of technologies and companies with you, from Flipboard to Pandora to Instagram. Today he's focusing on mixed reality, AKA "next-generation augmented reality" which will include a new user interface for EVERYTHING in your life (IoT, Smart Cities, driverless cars, robots, drones, etc). That's based on his view thanks to his past experience as futurist at Rackspace. Best place to find Scoble? On his Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble He has been a technology blogger since 2000, was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community, worked at Fast Company Magazine running its TV efforts, and has been part of technology media businesses since 1993. ++++++++ SPEAKER PITCH: Apple and Facebook now have revealed their Augmented Reality strategies, which means your business needs one too. Rely on Robert Scoble, the world's top authority on AR, to bring to your conference what businesses should do next. SPEECH ABSTRACT #1: TITLE: The Fourth Transformation: What's next in mixed reality (AR and AI) and the future of technology? Here's an example of this talk at Leade.rs in Paris in April, 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI Why "the Fourth Transformation?" Soon we will have phones and glasses that do full on augmented reality. Everything you look at will potentially be augmented. This world is coming in late 2017 with a new iPhone from Apple, amongst other products. Microsoft is betting everything on its HoloLens glasses that do mixed reality and the industry is spending many billions of dollars in R&D and funding new companies like Magic Leap. This future will be the user interface for IoT, Smart Cities, autonomous cars, robots, drones, and your TV. This is a big deal and Robert will take you through what mixed reality is and how it will change every business. Learn more about Robert's speaking style and contact his agent at http://odemanagement.com/robert-scoble/Robert-Scoble.html ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #2: "The Next Two Clicks of Moore's Law." Over the next four years, or two clicks of Moore's Law, a ton about our technology world will change. Scoble will bring you the best from his travels visiting R&D labs, startups, and innovators around the world. He views the world through his rose-colored-mixed-reality glasses, which will be the new user interface for self driving cars, Smart Cities, IoT, and many other things in our world. He'll send you off with some lessons for companies both large and small. ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #3: "Personalized Meaning: What is Augmented Reality For?" As we enter a far more technological world where even cars drive themselves, I predict we'll see a blowback toward the analog, more authentic world. What role does augmented reality play in both worlds? Get Scoble's insight into where augmented reality is going, see tons of real-world demos, and understand what he means by 'personalized meaning.' CONTACT: If you are looking to contact me, email is best: scobleizer@gmail.com. ++++++++ ENDORSEMENTS: IZEA Top 25 Tech Influencers: https://izea.com/2017/07/07/25-top-tech-influencers/ Time: One of the top 140 Twitterers! FT: One of the five most influential Twitterers! Inc. Top 5 on list of Tech Power Players You Need to Know: http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/30-power-players-in-tech-you-need-to-know.html Next Reality: #4 on top 50 AR influencer list: https://next.reality.news/news/nr50-next-realitys-50-people-watch-augmented-mixed-reality-0177454/

Published

26 thoughts on “Amazon kicks iTunes in the butt”

  11. Dario highlights that Amazon online downloads only apply to the US and not us Europeans.

    Elsewhere it has been commented that Amazon often has album only downloads so Omar’s selective comparison may be one-sided. And let’s not forget that Apple offers digital booklets with many album purchases as well as videos.

    I rely on Amazon to keep iTunes up to the mark in terms of not abusing its majority-share of the online download market. Somehow, judging from Amazon’s own best sellers lists of digital music players, it isn’t doing all that well at present. Quite telling, don’t you think?

    Like

  12. Dario highlights that Amazon online downloads only apply to the US and not us Europeans.

    Elsewhere it has been commented that Amazon often has album only downloads so Omar’s selective comparison may be one-sided. And let’s not forget that Apple offers digital booklets with many album purchases as well as videos.

    I rely on Amazon to keep iTunes up to the mark in terms of not abusing its majority-share of the online download market. Somehow, judging from Amazon’s own best sellers lists of digital music players, it isn’t doing all that well at present. Quite telling, don’t you think?

    Like

  13. I agree. Unbox still sucks as a movie download service, though. Here’s hoping Amazon can make their movie download service more like their MP3 download service.

    Like

  14. I agree. Unbox still sucks as a movie download service, though. Here’s hoping Amazon can make their movie download service more like their MP3 download service.

    Like

  15. While I agree whole-heartedly that Amazon beats iTunes when the same music is available on both, I’ve found that 4 out of 5 times Amazon doesn’t offer what I’m looking for. Also, eMusic has them both beat for user experience because you can easily mark stuff for later, surf for new music horizontally, and because (most important part) if you buy a song and then want the album they don’t charge you twice. You can download the same song over and over again – no cost.

    Like

  16. While I agree whole-heartedly that Amazon beats iTunes when the same music is available on both, I’ve found that 4 out of 5 times Amazon doesn’t offer what I’m looking for. Also, eMusic has them both beat for user experience because you can easily mark stuff for later, surf for new music horizontally, and because (most important part) if you buy a song and then want the album they don’t charge you twice. You can download the same song over and over again – no cost.

    Like

  17. Amazon is the only major service I can’t use and I live in a US territory and use US dollars as currency (Puerto Rico). I was able to download for the first few days the service started working then it stopped, saying that new geographic restrictions did not allow Amazon to sell to me! Its a stupid restriction and even if they remove it I may not use the service for a good long while.

    Like

  18. Amazon is the only major service I can’t use and I live in a US territory and use US dollars as currency (Puerto Rico). I was able to download for the first few days the service started working then it stopped, saying that new geographic restrictions did not allow Amazon to sell to me! Its a stupid restriction and even if they remove it I may not use the service for a good long while.

    Like

  19. I can’t wait to see one year of data on downloads aggregated for itunes vs amazon… I really think itunes is still going to beat amazon no matter what because starbucks is going to start offering instant downloads via free wifi connections in store on songs currently playing… do you know how many starbucks there are and how many continue to be birthed daily (over 20 new stores per day around the world and that is a conservative estimate)

    Like

  20. I can’t wait to see one year of data on downloads aggregated for itunes vs amazon… I really think itunes is still going to beat amazon no matter what because starbucks is going to start offering instant downloads via free wifi connections in store on songs currently playing… do you know how many starbucks there are and how many continue to be birthed daily (over 20 new stores per day around the world and that is a conservative estimate)

    Like

  21. I don’t know what the cutoff time is (I think it may be 7 minutes), but after that threshold Amazon simply bumps the price of the track up, whereas iTunes doesn’t sell it at all, making it album only. I have found exceptions to the rule above on both sites, but it seems to hold true a lot of the time.

    I prefer Amazon’s approach. Ideally, it would still be 99 cents no matter how long it is, but I can see the idea of crossing some sort of time threshold. In Amazon’s case they stil let you buy the song, it just costs a little more. In iTunes case they don’t let you buy it at all.

    This may have to do with Jobs not wanting any price other than 99 cents. However, while that made things easy when the iTunes store was opened in 2003, it makes less sense now. After all, iTunes already introduced a second price for DRM-free songs (they’ve since changed it).

    As for the album price, I’ve seen plenty of examples where Amazon or iTunes has a lower price an any given alum. My advice would always be to check both stores before buying (assuming iTunes has it DRM free, otherwise I’d go with Amazon).

    Like

  22. I don’t know what the cutoff time is (I think it may be 7 minutes), but after that threshold Amazon simply bumps the price of the track up, whereas iTunes doesn’t sell it at all, making it album only. I have found exceptions to the rule above on both sites, but it seems to hold true a lot of the time.

    I prefer Amazon’s approach. Ideally, it would still be 99 cents no matter how long it is, but I can see the idea of crossing some sort of time threshold. In Amazon’s case they stil let you buy the song, it just costs a little more. In iTunes case they don’t let you buy it at all.

    This may have to do with Jobs not wanting any price other than 99 cents. However, while that made things easy when the iTunes store was opened in 2003, it makes less sense now. After all, iTunes already introduced a second price for DRM-free songs (they’ve since changed it).

    As for the album price, I’ve seen plenty of examples where Amazon or iTunes has a lower price an any given alum. My advice would always be to check both stores before buying (assuming iTunes has it DRM free, otherwise I’d go with Amazon).

    Like

  23. Rob (#8),

    I agree whole-heartedly on your comments re: eMusic.

    Further, eMusic bests Amazon and iTunes by having no time threshold at all. No matter how long the song is, it’s still just one download.

    Like

  24. Rob (#8),

    I agree whole-heartedly on your comments re: eMusic.

    Further, eMusic bests Amazon and iTunes by having no time threshold at all. No matter how long the song is, it’s still just one download.

    Like

Comments are closed.