Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Real Cuts Prices for DRM-Restricted Music

Posted by michael on from the gnutella-still-free-for-all dept.

Flint Dragon writes "A story on MSNBC details RealNetworks' next step in converting iPod users from iTunes to their own online music store. Not only can you play music downloaded from their site on your iPod now, you can, for a limited time, purchase music for 50% cheaper (.49/song, 4.99/album)! This is the price that I'm willing to pay for. Too bad it won't last..."

20 of 633 comments (clear)

  1. Still not enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    To get me to use Real. They'd have to start paying me, and even then it would take some convincing.

    1. Re:Still not enough by blueZhift · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I hear you! With all of the spyware in Real's software and other annoying features, they've lost my trust and that of a lot of other people. As it stands, I only use Real Player when I absolutely have to. And since I'm pretty happy with my iPod and ITMS as it is, I won't be switching anytime soon.

      --
      To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
  2. Yeah by Aliencow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cause we all trust real enough to give them our money even though we don't trust them enough to install their crap.

    1. Re:Yeah by gnu-generation-one · · Score: 5, Funny

      "You should really try Real 10. It's a whole lot nicer than previous versions, and not "in your face" at all. They even have a pretty good Linux client."

      So I hear, by unsolicited email, about ten times per day...

  3. Step 3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hopefully step three is supporting Macs. For me, that's the ???? before step 4: Profit!!

  4. Losing Money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought that these companie barely even made a profit at $1 per song. A limited time low, loss-inducing cost might attract customers for a while but the low switching cost between services means that they won't stay when prices going up, especially if your sound quality is not as good.

  5. ipod problems by TedCheshireAcad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some how I don't think their conversion-to-iPod feature is going to last, at least not once the new revision of iPod software comes out.

  6. Re:For a LIMITED TIME only by SlamMan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bait and switch? It's called a "sale". A bait and switch ios when they're sell you sometihng more expensive than the advertised item.

    --
    Mod point free since 2001
  7. Apple & Real by daviddennis · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Could someone tell me why Apple is so upset about Real being able to its music work in the iPod? Apple has said their Music Store is not meant as a profit center, so isn't it better for them (in the sense of selling more iPods) that the store's compatible with Real?

    Of course this is of little interest to me since Real's not supporting Macs and I'm certainly not going to switch to Windows on their behalf.

    I don't think Real stockholders are going to think much of the bleeding, and when prices go back to $ 0.99 each I doubt that most people will stay with Real, given their software's general level of obnoxiousness and hard-sell promotion. Apple, for all its faults, has a very classy and nicely done music store I think most people will prefer by a huge margin.

    D

  8. how ironic by insomnyuk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find it exceedingly amusing, and telling, that RealNetworks, after years of pushing proprietary audio and video formats, is now fighting Apple's use of proprietary hardware. They have to market to iPod users because mp3 players using Real format music have been blown out of the water.

    Its too bad their software was always ad-ridden garbage. They will have to do a lot more than a loss-leader sales ploy to get my trust back.

  9. Oh no! by rf600r · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean Apple might sell more iPods? That's terrible news for Apple, because we all know they really make their money selling $0.99 songs.

  10. Offer won't last long... Music might not either by EvanKai · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Who is going to buy DMR'ed music from a company that is struggling financially with no guarantee that the RM part of the DRM will function in 6 months.

    Their ads should say...
    RENT AN ALBUM FOR $4.99
    ACT NOW, THIS FUNCTIONALITY WON'T LAST

  11. Re:I'm sure I'm in the minority... by Mononoke · · Score: 5, Insightful
    But I'd refuse to take DRM music even if it were free. The Audio Home Recording Act gives me the right to make backups of my music, to make compilations of my music, and to share those compilations with as many friends as I'd like, as long as I don't charge anything.

    ANY system that interferes with those rights is unacceptable to me.

    You must like the iTunes Music Store, then, since their version of DRM allows all of that to be done. Right?
    --
    NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
  12. Re:I'm sure I'm in the minority... by farzadb82 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The Audio Home Recording Act gives me the right to make backups of my music, to make compilations of my music, and to share those compilations with as many friends as I'd like, as long as I don't charge anything

    IANAL, but sharing music, regardless of charging anything or not is still a copyright violation. you are, however, permitted to make backups of my music

  13. Audio Quality by Philosinfinity · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While better audio codecs have been advanced (MP3, ogg, FLAC...) it seems that the real audio format has maintained its position at the end of the pack. While I am not such an audiophile that I feel like researching expert information on audio quality, it seems that I notice a great difference when listening to an .ra file as opposed to an MP3. Getting half the quality for half the price seems like a wash to me. That is, unless they are either distributing music in another format or have advanced their own encoding process. However, even an advance in the Real Audio format seems negligible. While it is nice that the files are currently compatable with the iPod, it still seems Real is taking the "too propritary" road. Now before I get tossed into the flamebait category, I do understand that iTunes, MusicMatch, and the rest of the competition is fairly proprietary in their own right. But iTunes, and to a degree MusicMatch, are quite a bit less intrusive applications than RealPlayer. Further, does anyone remember the user privacy sagas that Real has been through? Does anyone really trust Real to safeguard your information? I don't know about the rest of you, but Real lost my trust a long time ago. They could give out $0.01 songs and $0.10 albums, and that alone would scare me away.

  14. Re:gnutella-still-free-for-all dept? by AEton · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're right - Gnutella is stealing. I'll give back everything I stole right now.

    Thanks!
    -convert

    --
    We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
  15. Questions.. by TheCeltic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ok, I'm sure this is all covered somewhere at the two sites but...

    1. Can we copy the file we bought to different devices (i.e. PC/ipod/mp3 player)?
    2. Will it allow us to modify the format to/from mp3/wma/ogg/etc?
    3. What is the quality compared with "normal" downloads (from gnutella/limewire/etc)?
    4. Can we "re-download" a song if our copy get destroyed/lost/mangled?
    5. What other advantages/dis-advantages are there?

    --
    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= - The Celtic - =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
  16. Re:Not without jumping through hoops it doesn't. by Mononoke · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If you jump through a whole lot of hoops, yes, it'll do those things. The point is to be able to easily do them. DRM, in any form, doesn't make it easy.
    Really? Quoting the original poster:
    to make backups of my music,
    They are simply data files. How hard is that?
    to make compilations of my music,
    That's one of iTune's basic functions.
    and to share those compilations with as many friends as I'd like
    Burn 'em to CDs and pass them around to your heart's content.

    What was so hard about that?

    --
    NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
  17. Re:Ummm.. maybe idiots would... by Mikey-San · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You've never done end-user support, then.

    I can't count the number of times I've had to say something to the effect of, "No, Such-and-Such is a third-party package that's not supported by Apple," to customers.

    Apple /will/ get tech support calls about Real's stuff from confused users.

    --
    Mikey-San
    Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)
  18. Re:Well, why would you trust them less than Apple? by fiftyvolts · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple has done nothing to stop you from playing songs from other sources. I have tons of MP3's on my iPod that didn't come from Apple.

    If all I could play on my iPod with FairPlay DRM'ed tunes, then I would be upset. However as it stands I'm free to not use iTMS as much or as little as I please and still have a wonderful iPod experience.

    Remember Real can make their own music store anytime they want w/o violating an Apple held copyright, and by the same token it isn't Apple's responsibility to make sure they succeed.

    It's one thing to complain about companies who lock out competition and make their own products worthless. I would say Apple is not one of them.

    --
    100% Crunchier