Chris Blackwell’s Domain

Over the past two days I have read five different stories, which all originate from a Financial Times posting stating that Apple is in negotiating talks with the record studios to create an all you can eat (all you can listen to) iTunes subscription. The talk has been that this extra feature would be a premium amount that you would pay when buying a new iPod ($100 is the estimated markup).

Did you forget that Apple is #2?

Apple earlier this year passed Amazon to become the second largest music distributer in the world, only behind Wal-Mart. So why would Apple now go ahead and try to break a model that seems to be working so well for them? Now I don’t want to sound like I’m saying Apple Will NEVER do a subscription model, because never is a very long time. What I am saying is that right now things are going great for Apple and the iTunes store and it wouldn’t make sense to move away from that.

I spend hundreds of dollars a year on iTunes, downloading music, TV shows, audiobooks, and soon hopefully movies (bring the iTunes movie store to Canada please). Now lately I have been buying less because I’m in this “only buy DRM-FREE music mode”, but most people don’t care. The average user plugs in their iPod to iTunes and buys whatever songs they want, and they think it’s a bargain at only $1 a song. Over the course of a few years most of these people will spend well over a hundred dollars on music, cause that is only ten albums. I know of dozens of people that would pay $100 tomorrow to download the entire Beatles collection on iTunes (if it were available that is).

iPod Sales Will Keep Increasing

I believe people are a little too caught up in these reports that keep surfacing about iPod sales. Yes, I do believe that iPod sales are dropping, but only because everyone already has an iPod. For a last couple of years Apple was doing very minor upgrades to the iPod lineup and not giving people a really good reason to go buy a new one. That all changed last fall with the introduction of the iPod Touch and the new Nano. With Wi-Fi built in, video into the nano, and let’s not forget the iPhone, people have a really good reason now to upgrade their iPods.

I will keep buying music this week, and the next, because I believe that a iTunes subscription, if any, is a long way off. Do you think we will see an iTunes subscription soon? Do you think iTunes needs a new business model?

My frustrations with the iPhone continue, or more so, lack there of here in Canada. Today I received a call from a friend who wanted to buy their son an iPhone for Christmas. This person was not technology savvy but they clearly were attracted to the idea that their son would not have to carry around a mobile phone or an iPod, that they could have both in a single device. Alas, I had to inform them that there was no iPhone currently in Canada and no plans have been announced of it yet that it’s coming soon. My friend couldn’t understand why this was? Here was a device that was so clearly wanted by the public, but not coming to Canada?

Since I’ve been following the iPhone in Canada news for almost a year now I guess I got to rapped up in the idea that it wasn’t coming because only a few select geeks wanted it to. Now I’m starting to see that is clearly not the case? So why is there no iPhone in Canada? Well we all know that Rogers would be the only provider it could be with since it’s the only GSM provider in Canada. There has been speculation that Rogers doesn’t want the iPhone or care that much about it, but I just don’t believe that to be true. The iPhone would be a huge increase to Rogers sales so I’m sure they would love to have it with their selection.

So what is the real reason for no iPhone in Canada? I have to believe it all comes down to data plans. The iPhone is all about surfing the web, checking email, sending photos, etc. all like you would on a regular desktop computer or laptop. This however requires a lot of data being sent back and forth. Rogers (or any provider in Canada) doesn’t have any data plans to remotely cover the iPhone requirements. So essentially the iPhone’s features are essentially dumbed down when data is turned off. Now Apple could launch the iPhone in Canada with only selected features available, but that is not Apple’s style. Without a 100% functional iPhone, they would not allow it to be sold or it could hurt their image of “everything just works” and “everything works together”. So sad to say to my friend, this year you’ll have to buy him a Blackberry and an iPod Touch, and together you may have half the features of an iPhone.