Apple Mac HQ

I’m going to do my first multi-part post here at Apple Mac HQ. Leading off this first, is a review of the various alternatives to iTunes. I’ll be focusing on what I consider the “major players”. Those services are Amie Street, eMusic, and Amazon MP3. While there are other music services such as Napster and Rhapsody, their business model is subscription based which is outside the scope of this music service comparison.

Over the next week or so I’ll do an in-depth review of each service and then make some final recommendations. Stay tuned for my first review early next week!

Popularity: 33%

According to a latest data from the NPD Group’s Music Watch Survey, iTunes is now the largest music retailer in the US. iTunes now sells more music than any other company in the US. While that’s certainly impressive, consider that iTunes is less than 5 years old. Let that sink in a little. In less than 5 years iTunes is now the dominant force in a business that’s been around for well more than 50 years. Incredible.

Popularity: 28%

If you’re as excited about the upcoming MLB season as I am, iTunes has a free download that will get you primed for the season opening games. Coming in an nearly 700MB, the 2008 MLB Season Preview (iTunes link) takes a look at each division and gives you a synopsis of each team in the division.

The entire video runs about an hour which each team getting about 2-3 minutes of air time. Each team synopsis includes player interviews, team analysis (strengths/weaknesses/etc), beat writer quotes, and the goals of the team for 2008. With the season opening game just a little over a week away, the 2008 MLB Season Preview is a great way to get caught up to date on your favorite or hated team. Go Braves!

Popularity: 20%

About a month ago iTunes introduced a movie rental special to go along with the AppleTV software update. Each week, iTunes will feature a special movie that will cost just $.99 to rent. You get the same rental privileges with this $.99 movie as you do with any other movie on iTunes. A movie rental for less than a buck is a pretty good deal if you ask me.

The only problem with renting these cheap movies is actually finding them. I spent a good 5 or 10 minutes clicking around in iTunes and for the life of me I couldn’t see any place where you could actually find the special movie rental of the week. Search no more. Wake Interactive has created a website that lists the movie special along with a brief description of the movie and a direct iTunes link to the rental. 99Rental.com also features an RSS feed so you can get the latest movie rental special straight in your RSS reader. If you have an AppleTV or watch movies on your computer, 99Rental.com is a great resource.

[Via TUAW]

Popularity: 49%

No doubt that you’ve seen the first Macbook Air ad. The manilla folder shows you just how thin the Macbook Air truly is. As with many Apple ads, music takes the center stage along with the product.

The Macbook Air ad features a catchy tune by Yael Naim called New Soul. The song, and her new CD (iTunes link), is currently available in iTunes. In addition to the Macbook Air ad, Yael has recently received some more press. USA Today recently did a short article on Yael that dives into her background in music, her new CD, and other tidbits.

Being a singer-songwrite fan, I’ve listened to a few of the other tracks from her CD and have enjoyed them. If you’re a fan of singer-songwriters you should definitely check her out. If you’ve discovered any good singer-songwriters lately, drop his/her name in the comments. I’m always on the lookout for some good music.

Popularity: 60%

When you have the most popular digital music player on the planet, the largest digital music store, and billions of cash on hand, you tend to attract outsiders who want a piece of the action. Apple, meet Stacie Somers.

On December 31st, 2007, Stacie Somers filed a class action lawsuit against Apple for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act among other things. You can view the entire 24 page filing here. So what nuggets of information can we find within?

Page 2 # 6: “Online Video make it superior to DVDs purchased from traditional retail outlets.”

If you think video hobbled with DRM, a lower picture quality than DVD, and no special features makes it “superior”, the I’ve got some great beach property in Kansas to sell you Stacie.

Page 4 # 13: “Apple has repeatedly acted to foreclose even the possibility ofcompetition by using its market power to force consumers to choose its products based not on their merits, but on the fact that technological restrictions and incompatibilities prevent them from buying its competitors’ products.”

So you’re saying that it’s not because the iPod looks amazing, easily works with the music management software (iTunes), or is so very easy to use? What you’re saying is that when you go to pay for your Zune the credit card machine breaks down because Apple remotely disabled the connection to the credit card processor? Makes perfect sense to me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 32%

It seems like nearly every day you hear someone say the words “iPod Killer” or “iTunes Killer” in reference to the newest portable digital music player or content deliver mechanism. As time goes by, those claims are swept out of the consumers minds and the next “big thing” gives it a go too. Recently however, one “iTunes Killer” has actually managed to stay at the forefront of consumers thoughts and wallets. Despite being web only, the Amazon MP3 store has received good reviews and with the combination of cheap songs has kept consumers happy.

In an effort to bring more consumers to Amazon MP3, Amazon is teaming with Pepsi to give away 1 Billion songs according to Billboard. The Motley Fool has the scoop here. If you remember a few years ago, Pepsi teamed with Apple to give away 100 million iTunes songs.

Personally, I’m really excited about this promotion for a few reasons.

1) I’m likely to get some free music since I have a moderate Mountain Dew habit.
2) Competition for iTunes and Apple IS a good thing. Just remember about a month ago when Apple dropped the price of iTunes Plus tracks to compete more directly with the DRM free tracks from Amazon.
3) The more people that buy digital music, the larger the market is for digital music players. Since the iPod controls the majority of the digital music player market, a larger market means more iPod sales.

What’s interesting in this whole promotion is that for the first time, consumers are being targeted with a large scale promotion of DRM free music. Could this be the beginning of the end for DRM? I sure hope so.

Popularity: 12%