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

45 replies

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 6, 2009 9:09 PM in response to csdaley

CD's or Amazon. I just don't understand why it is always people who are trying to do the right thing who get nailed. I love Apple I have given them a lot of my money, they should have thought this one through a little better.

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 6, 2009 9:18 PM in response to csdaley

Every so often I click on the upgrade link and watch the bad pinball machine counter go up. It is now at $201.00 that's about 50 higher than earlier today. I calculated out my overprice by creating a smart playlist of my protected songs and it is going to cost me $577 by the time this is over.

That doesn't count the other $100 I have all ready spent over the years. Of course the big part of that was the first upgrade when their was an actual price difference between the songs. Their are songs in my library that I own the cd now and or can get from emusic. I should stop thinking about it, I just am getting more annoyed.

I can't afford to do it all at once and my price will just keep going higher which will make it even harder.

Jan 7, 2009 5:46 AM in response to csdaley

Be sure to send Apple your feedback on this issue! In iTunes, under the "iTunes" menu, is "Provide iTunes Feedback"

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2009 8:59 AM in response to csdaley

I just got an email from Apple and it is hilarious. It doesn't even cover my question. They actually sent me an email with a description of how to upgrade my library. They completely ignored my complaints and questions.

Jan 8, 2009 9:27 AM in response to csdaley

same here.... I have always felt that they never read the e-mails now I have the proof. I want to upgrade but not this stupid ALL or NOTHING policy and ALL at ONCE. Over £ 1000 to pay in one go is very very unreasonable and no one seems to know how long you have to save up before teh offer is rescinded.

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2009 11:23 AM in response to csdaley

When I get home later I will post their reply. It truly was funny. I sent another note and asked them if they read the first one. Can't wait to see what I get back.

Jan 8, 2009 11:24 AM in response to csdaley

I sent a question about how long before teh offer expires so I can save up and got exactly teh same reply to i.e. how to download purchases!

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2009 2:01 PM in response to csdaley

yeah the whole thing is a boondoggle. It's silly to because it really effects the people who have spent the most, i.e. best customers.

I don't like the price but would pay it if I could upgrade slowly but I can't.

What's worse is my price tag just keeps going up and up. I will never be able to afford it as a single purchase.

Bellamcq

Level 1

15 points

Jan 8, 2009 2:52 PM in response to csdaley

As someone who has had multiple macs, has only ever owned ipods, has only ever downloaded music I have paid for and almost exclusively from itunes I feel very let down by Apple for this initiative. To upgrade will cost me nearly 300 pounds and many of the tracks I bought in the last 6 months. I don't expect something for nothing but 300 pounds is very steep particularly when I don't want to upgrade all my tracks. Had I waited to buy the tracks today I would have played precisely nothing to get drm free music and 256. Seems to me that Apple is shooting loyal customers in the foot- I recognise it is all about market forces but having used mac only since 1993 I am disgusted with this current move. Not sure whether to spend the 300 pounds buying CDs of the music I particularly like instead and will find it hard now to buy anything more from itunes for a while. This campaign might make Apple a quick buck but it certainly won't make avid mac fans think highly of the company.
The sooner Apple let us at the least pick the music we wish to upgrade the better! But I won't hold my breath.

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2009 3:15 PM in response to csdaley

I feel exactly the same way.

In my house right now I have:

3 Ipods
4 Shuffles
2 Iphones
1 Nano
2 Imacs
1 Macbook
3000 Tracks purchased from iTunes Store

This does not count things I have bought that have been retired or given away. I have spent a lot of money on Apple over the years and have helped to talk others into switching.

csdaley Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 8, 2009 10:04 PM in response to csdaley

I was going to post my first letter but the response I got to the 2nd one is better.

They sent me a letter that had nothing to do with my complaint. Here is my response to that letter
--------

I did not ask for a refund, I asked for a reason for the charges. I
asked for a better price than .30 a song which is going to cost me
$577.00. I want to know why I have to upgrade my whole library.
There are songs in there I don't want to upgrade. I will never buy
another song from iTunes again if I don't get an answer.

If you can lose my business, so be it.

Christopher
-----

Here is the response I got back
-------

Hi Christopher,

(D *A reps name here, wasn't sure if I should post it.) here again from iTunes Store Customer Support. I hope this email finds you in good spirits.

Thank you for your interest in the recent iTunes pricing announcement.

Beginning in April, songs on the iTunes Store will be available at one of three price points: $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29, with most albums still priced at $9.99.

The latest news about iTunes can be found here:

Changes Coming to the iTunes Store
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/06itunes.html

Please watch these web pages for new information that will be posted as it becomes available.

Apple recognizes that no one is better qualified to provide feedback about iTunes than the people who use it.

Christopher, I encourage you to use the iTunes Feedback page to submit your comments:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Your efforts to share your feedback are very much appreciated. Have a nice day.

Sincerely,

D *A
iTunes Store Customer Support, CA

------------------------

It's blows my mind. She actually wrote Apple values my feedback while blowing off my feedback for the 2nd straight letter. Clearly a form letter of some sort but it doesn't relate to anything I said, nor did the first one I got.

I guess they can afford to lose it. I was sorry to hear that.

Message was edited by: csdaley

Message was edited by: csdaley

Jan 9, 2009 4:41 AM in response to treva05

This article is very informative and shows the frustration a lot of LOYAL customers feel towards Apple. Ie...the fact that the longer you ahve been with them the more you ahve spent in teh past the more you are being penalsied by having to fork out more cash IN one hit. Come on APPLE do the decent thing and show some loyalty back to your customers and at least let people pay in instalments? Why is this so hard? In fact you may end up with more money spent. As it is I cannot afford to pay out in one hit but I would pay if it was in easier instalments. LOYALTY works both ways.

Jan 9, 2009 4:45 AM in response to csdaley

If Apple VALUED its customers then they would not have implemented this ALL or NOTHINg and AT ONCE policy. Plyus noone can tell you how long the offer is there for so you can at least be given the chance to save up. It is an unmitigated shambles.

Jan 9, 2009 8:58 AM in response to csdaley

My upgrade price is up to $423 now, and climbing it seems every day. I used to upgrade when they became available at $10-20 a pop. That was irritating but still affordable. I could never upgrade at this price, so in essence, the upgrade service, of which I was a loyal customer, is now unavailable to me.

Thankfully I didn't buy the Bob Dylan collection as I considered. It costs then and now $199. If you purchased it, that means you have "a staggering 773 tracks," all of which you would have to upgrade at a price of $231. Which means to have the same collection that someone in the near future would pay $199 for, you would have to pay $430.

It's not necessarily a question of a choice. I had the choice in the past to upgrade and did. To do so now would cost hundreds of dollars, which is simply too prohibitive. That's the price we pay for buying loyal, longtime customers of iTunes.

Hello Amazon!

Jan 9, 2009 9:11 AM in response to csdaley

{quote:title=csdaley wrote:}
Can anyone tell me why you have to $.30 to upgrade to DRM free?{quote}

It's $0.30 for the upgrade in quality. DRM free is the bonus.

Message was edited by: Steve Kellener

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DRM free upgrade price