RFRDW: The Apple iTunes Store

Up until now, my RFRs have been either Rants or Raves. Today will be the first “Double Whammy”. A Double Whammy is both a rant and a rave at the same time. Today’s target is the Apple iTunes Store.

So what spawned this rant and rave? Melissa asked me to put together a compilation CD to play during a get together after her Mom’s funeral. But there was a catch, when I finally got a chance to sit down and get the music it was at about 1AM the day of the funeral. I also still had to scan in 35 pictures and put together a slide show too.

Not wanting to spend a lot of time on the CD, I turned to the iTunes Store where I could get the tracks I needed individually. After about 45 min of searching, and clicking “Buy” I had all the music I needed. A few quick drags and it was put into playlists and the CD was burned. What could have been a few hours of work with the “Traditional” method was quick, easy, and not too expensive with iTunes.

But this brings me to the rant section. I’m sorry ABBA, Jackson 5, and various other artists whose music is priced at $1.29, I don’t think your music is worth the extra $0.30. Yeah, it’s not much, but what was so wrong with the $0.99 per song price? Now there are $0.69 songs supposedly, but they are as rare as Bigfoot. I can’t tell you exactly why that extra $0.30 is such a barrier for me. Maybe it’s the thought that other music that I deem as good or better is $0.99, but who knows. All I know is, the price point stopped me from buying a few songs on the playlist.

As an aside, I swear I don’t listen to ABBA or Jackson 5. Melissa picked the music out, and they were the 2 bands that stood out in my mind with the more expensive prices.