iPod Users Buy CDs, Shun iTunes

twitter writes, "The BBC's summarizes a Jupiter Research study, 'iPod fans shunning iTunes store.' From the article: '83% of iPod owners do not buy digital music regularly... only 5% of the music on an iPod will be bought from online music stores. The rest will be from CDs the owner of an MP3 player already has or tracks they have downloaded from file-sharing sites... [T]he only salient characteristic shared by all owners of portable music players was that they were more likely to buy more music — especially CDs.' This is despite years of iTunes promotion and apparent success. Given the outright failure of other music services, it is clear that users prefer DRM-free music, and are willing to pay for it and take the trouble to rip it."

Comments

You have it wrong, Winkydink.

[twitter]

1. Most iPod user don't buy using iTunes,
2. Every other online music store is a failure

3. Therefore, people don't like DRM.

Number two is obviously wrong, only DRM'd music stores are a failure and all of them have failed. MP3.com was a success, Amazon.com is a success and many other online music stores without DRM are a successful. DRM costs everyone but the RIAA money and it's not going to make it. Listeners and vendors alike loath it. Jupiter's little study has show that not even iPod users are not going for DRM.

That iPod users don't go for it is significant because iPod users have already accepted artificial restrictions in their music but even they refused to be locked in completely. iTunes is the easiest, most integrated, in your face DRM music store. It even seems to work, though it has been shown to suck 25% of your battery life. The restrictions are significant and include the following:

The user must still use iTunes or a compatible third-party software to load audio, videos, and photos in such a way that they are playable and viewable on the iPod. Simply copying files to the drive will not allow the iPod to properly access them. ... iTunes cannot transfer songs or videos from device to computer, unless they were purchased from the iTunes Store and authorized for use on that computer. The media files are stored in a hidden folder together with a proprietary database on the iPod. While the hidden content can be accessed through the host operating system, practical recovery of the audio with correct file names, tag meta-data, and playlists requires the use of third-party software.

The practical upshot of that it's hard to share music with yourself, let alone others. There are limits on the number of times you can copy your music and how many devices you can have it on at once. iPod owners have put up with all of that but won't get suckered into iTunes music store.

It's the DRM and nothing but the DRM. They don't want to be locked in.