iTunes Plus is a ripoff

Question

iTunes Plus is a ripoff

Apart from the slow downloads noted by others already, there is a problem (for me at least) that has got right up my snout.

It appears to be driven by sheer greed on the part of Apple/EMI, ans is that you can only "upgrade" songs in a slab of albums - not even individual albums. The end results are that not only am I not coughing up 100s of unaffordable dollars immediately to upgrade my collection, I am not going to purchase anything more from iTunes Store until upgrading is available on *at least* a per-album basis. I don't mind paying extra to upgrade - I just don't like to be forced to do it in a manner that I can't afford.

Is anyone else not very happy about this?

Not to mention the problems associated with timeouts, etc.

I have posted the gist of this via the iTunes "support" page, and suggest that others do likewise if they have the same concerns.

Powermac G5 1.6Uni/2GB RAM; NV-GS400; EyeTV 200/Neuston 500; iLife'06; Mac OS X (10.4.8) LaCie Firewire ext. 250 GB; LaCie SATA II ext. 300 GB

Posted on Jun 2, 2007 1:52 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 2, 2007 4:39 AM in response to Alexander Newman

If you cannot afford to upgrade then why are you even in the iTS? Turn off iTunes+ if you cannot afford the price.

I upgraded the tunes that I had - albeit only 9 tunes but none of them were from album purchases - they were all singles from sa variety of albums and artists.

MJ

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Answer 2

Jun 2, 2007 7:01 AM in response to Mike Johnson12

As I wrote initially, I have no objection to paying for the upgrades - fair's fair.

The specific problem is that it's a matter of having to upgrade them all at once. I've built up my collection over time, but Apple is not giving me the option of upgrading them *over time*. It is this that I resent.

I most certainly didn't buy all the songs in my collection *at once*, and see no good reason why they should have to be upgraded *at once*. This does not seem to be fair. That isn't to say that I won't upgrade them all sooner or later. It's just that I can't afford to do them all in one hit, and it will only get worse, i.e., if I don't upgrade the mass now, it will only become a bigger mass (and therefore harder to afford in one hit) as more titles are added to the non-DRM catalogue ans which I have already downloaded DRM-ed versions thereof.

Also, when I bought into iTunes last year, and even until recently, there wasn't the ghost of an idea that Apple was going to axe DRM.

Since my initial post, I've read some info that suggests that this problem may be restricted to the Australian iTunes setup.

Can anyone confirm?

Cheers,
Alex.

Powermac G5 1.6Uni/2GB RAM; NV-GS400; EyeTV 200/Neuston 500; iLife'06; Mac OS X (10.4.8) LaCie Firewire ext. 250 GB; LaCie SATA II ext. 300 GB

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Answer 3

Jun 2, 2007 9:57 AM in response to Alexander Newman

I would think that if you disable the iTunes+ option then it will not try to get you to udgrade. When I did it I was given the dialog box to accept the purchase. I use a shopping cart and not the '1Click' option.

I do agree that being forced into upgrading all at once can be a bit overboard - you can decline the purchase of course. For me having 9 tunes - well $2.70 ok - but having hundreds of tunes could be a bit of a bother all at once.

MJ

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Answer 4

Jun 2, 2007 10:06 AM in response to Alexander Newman

I'm just glad a discounted upgrade was offered at all.

I don't recall anyone offering to upgrade my LPs when CDs first came out. Or to upgrade my CD when a re-mastered version came out.

Matt

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Answer 5

Jun 2, 2007 5:24 PM in response to Matthew Morgan

On the other hand, Apple are only too happy to offer to "complete" "incomplete albums - on a per-album basis (i.e., not the whole lot in one go). So why not allow "DRM to non-DRM" upgrades on a per-album basis?

Turning "Plus" off is not the issue - I am fully aware of being able to do so, and I don't have any problem at all purchasing new tracks at the higher bit-rate/price. My beef is the apparently greedy grab for cash by making me cough up in one hit (the "iTunes Plus" FAQ explicitly states this policy, btw, which I read before attempting to upgrade my collection).

It seems that I'm the only one so far to be whingeing about this, so perhaps I purchased too many (DRM) songs (over time).

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Answer 6

Chas Hulme

Level 4

1,130 points

Jun 2, 2007 5:38 PM in response to Alexander Newman

This is determined by the content label, not Apple. In this case the EMI Music sub of EMI Group... Obviously, they feel that the investment of opening up their entire catalog sans DRM requires an all or nothing approach to the upgrade policy, which makes sense to me.

Personally, I am willing to vote with my wallet to encourage the other three major labels to do the same (i.e., open up their catalogs without adding cumbersome digital encryption).

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Answer 7

Jun 2, 2007 6:02 PM in response to Chas Hulme

I suspected as much. It seems that the EMI leopard hasn't really changed its digital spots yet. Same old same old.

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Answer 8

Chas Hulme

Level 4

1,130 points

Jun 3, 2007 12:58 AM in response to Alexander Newman

Whatever that means...

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