Earlier this evening, I took a trip over to the iTunes Store to pick up the new album from Sigur Ros. The price was $9.99 for 128kbps audio laced with diseased DRM. Ran across the street to Amazon MP3. There it was: DRM-free, 256kbps and only $7.99!! C'mon iTunes. I love you, but you are getting your ass handed to you.
by Brad on June 24, 2008
Yeah. Amazon MP3 is awesome. Hopefully they did just as good with the Kindle store, which I'll be finding out TOMORROW! =)
Oh, and in my opinion, this is probably Sigur Ros' best album yet. Love it.
24 Jun 08 at 10:48pm
Just buy it direct from sigurros.com for $8 at 320kbps.
24 Jun 08 at 11:37pm
If Amazon MP3 starts coming out with gift cards that are available every location iTunes gift cards are, it's game over. Of course, competition for Apple only works out for us lowly consumers.
25 Jun 08 at 7:49am
@Ben: That's the way to go. I spent 12 bucks (thats including shipping) and pre-ordered the physical CD of the Sigur Ros. It showed up at my door the day it came out on itunes. Amazon is the way to go for buying mp3's, but I'd honestly just buy the actual CD, even though this one had naked people running through a field on the cover.
25 Jun 08 at 8:53am
sadly it's not up to apple – the music industry is afraid iTunes is becoming too powerful so they're purposefully withholding higher-quality, drm-free tracks from iTunes in order to give them a weaker position against places like amazon.
if the labels could set the prices on both store i doubt either would be drm-free or even $9.99, let along $7.99…
25 Jun 08 at 11:02am
in other news, i kan't speill
25 Jun 08 at 11:08am
I always do the same thing after checking for music on iTunes, even if the album is DRM-free iTunes Plus. Amazon almost always has it for $1 or $2 cheaper anyway, at 256kbps, and the Amazon MP3 downloader software works just as well as the iTunes Store in getting the songs downloaded and into your library.
The truth is, the iTunes Store is overdue for a makeover. The special artists pages with creative designs are great, but where are wishlists (and I'm not talking about a local playlist you can drag 30 second clips from the store into, that's just lame)? Where are recommendations from user to user? A better rating system?
I applied for a job at Apple a few years back to work on this stuff. Apparently they haven't filled that position yet.
25 Jun 08 at 6:11pm
My girlfriend has a Nano and downloads songs from iTunes all the time. I think the price has never been an issue b/c she has never bought an entire album, only one song at a time. Does anyone have an opinion on Rhapsody, something like unlimited music for $14.99 a month?
25 Jun 08 at 6:36pm
Why Apple is currently more expensive: http://weblog.raganwald.com/2008/05/why-apple-is-more-expensive-than-amazon.html
25 Jun 08 at 6:56pm
If Amazon has what I want, I don't even bother checking iTunes.
25 Jun 08 at 7:49pm
@ Frank White – I'm anti Real Player so I'd never use Rhapsody. But, I had a Napster for two years. It worked out pretty well if you strip the WMA DRM. Currently using Ruckus (terrible software) but free for university students.
26 Jun 08 at 2:57am
Brad Smith founded Neubix, a quirky Midwestern design studio, with Ryan Sims in late 2001. Now transplanted to New England, Brad captains a ship named Virb. He is a fan of sushi, sad songs and sharpies. He's a lover, not a fighter and still thinks Darth Vader was framed.
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Amazon MP3 is definitely the way to go. I like the iTunes Store more for previewing music and finding new stuff but I always check Amazon MP3 first to actually buy it. Quality stuff.
Josh Pigford
24 Jun 08 at 9:59pm