I've never been able to figure out how it is that people who themselves have accomplished nothing of note in a given field feel safe in telling the market leaders in that field what they _must_ do to succeed. If I say that Microsoft will have to start paying better attention to me if they want this Office product of theirs to becomes the force in software it wants to be, everybody would get a good laugh and move on. The numbers tell the story.
But Arik Hesseldahl has a deadline to meet, and a column to fill. So in the most recent issue of Forbes, Arik writes More Suggestions For iTunes, and says, "First and foremost, if Apple is going to become the force in music sales it truly wants to be, it's going to have to start paying attention to the demands of sophisticated music listeners."
Online music sales isn't quite software, and 70% of the market isn't quite 95%, so — grandiose pronouncements notwithstanding — the question is whether or not the suggestions are any good.
The suggestions can be summarized as:
1. Include the liner notes for each album.
2. Use the date of the original recording for re-releases.
3. Set up email alerts for releases by certain artists.
I think that two out of three isn't bad.
In the first case, the author picks an older jazz album to demonstrate the lack of liner notes. It is true that Conversations With Myself lacks any liner notes whatsoever, but that doesn't mean that the iTunes Music Store can't handle them. Another BIll Evans album, Piano Player, demonstrates the capability, though the notes are not included in each song after you've downloaded it. Now we're getting down to details — should the entire liner notes be included in the comments for each song? Or, as is currently the case, should they simply be displayed on the album page so that people who are interested can save or make notes?
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
It looks like iTMS is a bit cheaper than Amazon on the two albums listed, even though one of them isn't $9.99 on iTMS. Wow.
Tom Johnson, I put that FLAC part in there just so you could state, once again, how you will never pay money for compressed audio. You're welcome. But still silly. :-)
2 - eliot
None of those suggestions seem truly groundbreaking. I don't see how any of those items can keep Apple at the top or greatly improve market share. Adding more artists (*ahem* Radiohead *ahem*) and other varieties of payment structures (I would love an all-I-can-stream subscription account) might be more useful for improving market share.
Anyway, back to my finals. Woopie.
3 - Phillip Winn
Yes, more artists (Evanescence, Madonna, etc.) would be great. A million tracks by the end of the year, sure, but if people can't get Evanescence, what good is that?
Steve Jobs was asked about subscription services recently and basically said (IIRC) that the market has spoken, and people aren't making money selling subscription services. People want to buy.
4 - Tim
you should put south park bigger longer and uncut the songs on iTunes