DRM free upgrade price

Question

Level 1

10 points

DRM free upgrade price

Can anyone tell me why you have to $.30 to upgrade to DRM free? It makes no sense. I am really excited about the DRM free announcement but it really seems that Apple is still trying to make a profit off of a song I all ready bought. If I bought the song today it would be $.99 DRM free and 256. Because I bought the song a year ago I have to pay an extra $.30 bringing my total to $1.29. I don't mind paying to cover their costs but $.30 now seems very excessive. I have bought thousands of songs and this bill is going to be huge.

I have been splitting my buying between Amazon and iTunes this last year. If iTunes had it DRM free i bought there, otherwise I went to Amazon. In previous years it was all iTunes but I am really considering switching to Amazon on a full time basis unless Apple can explain the reasoning behind the upgrdae price.

Does anyone no where I should go to pursue this with Apple?

Imac, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Jan 6, 2009 2:39 PM

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Answer 1

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Jan 6, 2009 2:43 PM in response to csdaley

It's 30 cents per song or if you purchased an entire album, it's 30% of the album price.

Does anyone no where I should go to pursue this with Apple?

-> http://www.apple.com/contact/

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Answer 2

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 6, 2009 2:45 PM in response to csdaley

I understand it is $.30 a song but the price seems excessive. I am willing to pay a fee to cover Apples cost that seems fair but this seems like they are trying to make a profit on songs that they have all ready made a profit.

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Answer 3

Jan 6, 2009 2:57 PM in response to csdaley

iTunes Plus songs were more expensive when they first showed up. the 30 cents was there to pay the difference between a standard song price and a iTunes plus song.

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Answer 4

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Jan 6, 2009 2:58 PM in response to csdaley

It's the price it has always been when an iTunes Plus version of a track became available. I doubt very seriously that the price will change now. Keep in mind that we don't know if any part of this upgrade fee is going to Apple or if it's all going to the record companies.

If you feel the price is excessive, then your choice is simple: don't upgrade. Your existing tracks will continue to be exactly what they were when you purchased them.

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Answer 5

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 6, 2009 3:06 PM in response to csdaley

That's crazy though. i have to upgrade everything, I don't get to pick and choose. I paid for the songs all ready and mostly i just want them to be DRM free. Just because it has always been that way doesn't make it right.

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Answer 6

Jan 6, 2009 3:10 PM in response to csdaley

Lame, ain't it.

Message was edited by: Barry Hardt

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Answer 7

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 6, 2009 3:15 PM in response to csdaley

Just a bit yeah. The funny thing is that I paid the price on a few of the upgrades back when they first started offering it. It just happened to be songs I wanted better quality and DRM free. Since then I switched to using both Amazone and iTunes store depending on where it was DRM free.

This bill is going to be huge for me and I can't pick which songs I want. Just another case of jerking around an honest cutomer.

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Answer 8

tibbsc

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2009 3:25 PM in response to csdaley

My question is am i forced to rebuy things I have deleted? Say for instance I bought a comedy sketch i later deleted. In my itunes its making me pay to upgrade something i no longer want. If there is no way around this I am going to start stealing music, because this is what all my friends have been telling me to do and now i see why i should. This is nothing short of customer abuse. Not allowing us to upgrade individually was bad enough, but making me pay for something i dont want. Makes me want to sell all my apple stuff (iMac, a mac mini, and iPhone).

Angry customer.

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Answer 9

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Jan 6, 2009 3:39 PM in response to tibbsc

My question is am i forced to rebuy things I have deleted?

You are not forced to buy anything.

making me pay for something i dont want

Who is making you pay for anything?

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Answer 10

treva05

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2009 3:50 PM in response to csdaley

http://www.macworld.com/article/137964/2009/01/itunesplus.html?t=102

that article does a great job highlighting how much of a terrible job Apple has done with this "Upgrade to iTunes Plus" feature

Message was edited by: treva05

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Answer 11

Jan 6, 2009 3:51 PM in response to csdaley

csdaley wrote:
That's crazy though. i have to upgrade everything, I don't get to pick and choose. I paid for the songs all ready and mostly i just want them to be DRM free. Just because it has always been that way doesn't make it right.

It's a con that I have to upgrade all of the songs - I have bought some songs on iTunes and later bought the CD so I don't want to upgrade everything.

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Answer 12

tibbsc

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2009 4:27 PM in response to Chris CA

Wow. Way to play semantics. Maybe this will help you understand a complaint. Preface my last post with: 'Assuming I want to upgrade my library'

Now please justify.

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Answer 13

Jan 6, 2009 4:39 PM in response to treva05

treva05 wrote:
http://www.macworld.com/article/137964/2009/01/itunesplus.html?t=102

that article does a great job highlighting how much of a terrible job Apple has done with this "Upgrade to iTunes Plus" feature

Message was edited by: treva05

Wow. Forcing people to upgrade the trashy free songs to be able to upgrade the rest of their library is terrible. Shame on Apple.

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Answer 14

tibbsc

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2009 4:56 PM in response to bilbo_baggins

Seriously. I have bought 6 mac in my life, shopped on itunes since it was released, had an ipod since the first one and have been such an advocate for apple products. This kind of customer abuse is just shameful.

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Answer 15

memphrem

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2009 4:56 PM in response to bilbo_baggins

It really is ridiculous. I have 285+ songs that are listed as being upgradeable, but I've deleted about 40 songs. But their "all or nothing" rule means that I have to pay to upgrade songs that I have deleted from my hard drive? Seriously lame.

Back to buying ol' fashioned CDs, I say.

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