Recent numbers show that iTunes accounts for about 66% of the downloadable music market, with Amazon trailing a distant second at around 13%. There are two big reasons Amazon should be kicking the bits out of iTunes, but Apple's stubbornly immovable music service only seems to keep getting bigger and stronger.
Amazon beats iTunes in two of what you'd think would be the most fundamental areas: price and device support. Most Amazon tracks cost just 99 cents and it routinely discounts entire albums to $4, whereas Apple's tracks fluctuate between 99 cents and $1.29 with very rare instances of complete albums selling for under $10. Amazon also uses the much more common MP3 format which is playable on just about any portable device, while iTunes only works with Apple products.
(To clarify, iTunes' AAC format is playable on Apple products and certain compatible portable devices. The AAC tracks can be loaded onto compatible non-Apple players using separate software or converted to MP3 files using iTunes and then loaded onto non-Apple players using separate software. You can also burn iTunes-purchased tracks to CDs directly from within iTunes, which are then playable in any CD player.)
Now, Apple's had a big head start over Amazon so I'm not trying to argue that Amazon should have a bigger share of the market than iTunes right now, but Amazon should be gaining on iTunes at a faster rate than it is. (More on Time.com: Apple's Hits and Misses So Far)
Amazon's basic problem has to do with intangibles. Look at its MP3 store:
Can anyone figure out what the crap is going on here?
Contrast with iTunes:
There's a lot less to read and plenty of easily clickable images.
I'm not saying iTunes is perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's got a relatively simple layout and it exists as its own standalone program that connects directly with portable media players.
Amazon makes you install a piece of software before you can start purchasing music, but the software—oh wait, you don't HAVE to install it but Amazon recommends it because "It is required for album purchases, and makes downloading songs fast and easy." So without it, downloading songs from Amazon is not fast or easy and you can't download entire albums.
So while iTunes goes for simplicity, Amazon has some weird software called "the Amazon MP3 Downloader" that it recommends you install but it's not required. For the record, I buy most of my music from Amazon and I think it's a cumbersome and painful process. This is coming from someone who works in the technology industry evaluating products and services all day. I can't imagine how casual consumers view Amazon's MP3 store. (More on Time.com: Is Amazon Looking to Get into the Streaming Business?)
Amazon's other-yet-related problem is its insistence on offering everything under one roof. You're looking for music to download but the site still offers you CDs in the FIRST LINK of the MP3 store's main header.
Amazon should bite the bullet and just build a store that sells only digital media—music, books, movies, TV shows, and apps. It should be installable just like iTunes in order to facilitate song downloads, music playback and portable device support, but aside from those functions it should simply access a web-based version of itself that customers can use in any browser.
It'd be a cloud-based music service with an installable component that people could use as their desktop music player. Imagine if you got a new computer, installed iTunes on it, and all your videos, TV shows, books and music files were right there—no transferring them over from your old computer or synching them from your iPhone. You'd have access to all your media files from your work computer, too.
Amazon is a big, lumbering player in the cloud right now so it definitely has the expertise and the infrastructure to take the lead on some sort of cloud-based music service. At the very least, though, it needs to offer a decent, straightforward, simplified user experience.
More on TIME.com:
Amazon App Store and Android Tablet in the Works?
While I believe Apple should have demanded a 'median price' requirement before allowing Labels to use a tiered, '69/99/1.29' system, I dont find a lack of 9.99 albums.
The minute Apple loses any market clout, you will find that the $4.00 pricing will evaporate overnight from Amazon catalog.
Finally, Apple got the labels to drop Digital Rights Management sometime back, so any AAC-compliant player should work (AAC being an published standard), not just Apple's hardware. Of course, the kind you find near the pharmacy checkout line may only deal with plain-vanilla MP3 files (N.B. both formats require the manufacturer to pay royalties) so they go for the lowest-common, widespread denominator, ripped and/or pirated tracks.
vaughnsc
Dec. 17, 2010 19:17pm
"Amazon's tracks are also playable on just about any portable device, while Apple's only work on Apple products."
That's a down right misleading lie and you know it. All of Apple's music is DRM free (as is Amazons) and can be easily converted from AAC to MP3 if your device doesn't support AAC (which is a much better compression standard anyway). I can burn a CD full of AAC files and they play fine in my Audi in dash CD/DVD player -- no conversion necessary.
Get your facts straight. As for the rest of the article I agree Amazon would be smart to build a media app -- until then I'm sticking with iTunes.
calcanuck
Dec. 17, 2010 19:30pm
Updated, thanks. Meant to say "iTunes only works with Apple products." That may have even been too much of a simplification, so I added a little more info.
Not trying to mislead anyone, just made a mistake late on a Friday at the end of a long week. I'll probably steer clear of any Audi with Canadian flag sticker on it for a while just to be on the safe side, though
Doug Aamoth
Dec. 18, 2010 15:07pm
Why bother with either? Go to a 'Torrent' site and download anything into any player or device! Apple with it's overpriced players ($149 buck for 8gbs when I can pay $41 bucks for 6gbs and have a mp4 player also! Plus my player allows me to download anything (music, video, still pictures). Just don't buy any product that restricts (or forces you to only buy from them...I-Tunes (isn't that a monopoly?) Atleast with old VCRs you could buy any video tape (not just from the brand of your vcr) and use them. Apple isn't worth the trouble or thier overpriced players!
pks29733steel
Dec. 18, 2010 17:38pm
@ Doug Aamoth
Thanks! Just avoid the 101 between Palo Alto and Sunnyvale during rush hour and you'll be fine
calcanuck
Dec. 18, 2010 22:17pm
I find it easy to download from Amazon's site. I like the instant payment option I have set up and found it easy to set it up. I like Amazon the way it is now, but if they implemented some new approach, I bet I would like it then, too.
As for Apple: I have used an Apple computer and used to have an Apple player. I like them, but I do agree that they are way too expensive. I might buy another one if they lowered the price.
Otherwise, I see this as healthy competition. Let us try to remember the beauty of this democracy and that it allows for the improvement of whatever product or service we produce. In this way, it is, "all good," as they say.
Stephanie J. Golden, B.S.W., M.S.R.C.
redlotuspetal68
Dec. 19, 2010 20:08pm
I've never found the Amazon software cumbersome to use. I usually compare prices and buy what's cheaper (which is why I really miss LaLa) but when the price is even I prefer the sound quality of the AAC files from iTunes over Amazon's MP3.
The real problem here for other people is the integration of the store with the management software. I'm not calling for a breakup or anything but trying to get into iTunes when it's already in the player there's not much you can do to even that playing field.
crichton007
Dec. 19, 2010 23:39pm
My guess is that iTunes dominance doesn't have much to do with the things you mentioned. I think it has more to do with the fact that iPod/iPhones dominate the mp3 player market (like 75% market share?). If you have an iPod, you must have iTunes installed to play anything. So the store is always right there are your fingertips when you're thinking about music. It's dead simple to just click on another tab and hit the buy button.
Contrast that with the non-Apple method. Download from Amazon. Put everything in the right folder. Make sure that folder is recognized by your PC's music player, and also sync that mp3 to your portable device. It's possible to make this happen automatically, but it takes some technical finesse to set it up.
I think Amazon would do well to create its own branded mp3 *playing* software (not just downloader) for both PCs and smartphones. It would of course tie into the mp3 store and hide all the extra crap you can buy at Amazon and just show digital music, movies, books. The same software would be available on phones and Amazon could partner with phone makers to make it the default player. This would make it dead simple to buy music while you're standing in line bored and looking for something new to listen to on your phone.
howiewang
Dec. 20, 2010 00:24am
I do hope Amazon will sell digital media and is downloadable. My sister usually uses iTunes for almost everything, so the media and fan-base of iTunes is a lot wider and bigger than Amazon.
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rbmatudan
Dec. 20, 2010 09:59am
Amazon's mp3 download has improved since I first started using it - used to have to find where your music went and then move it to the Itunes folder. I do still buy as much music from Amazon as I do from Itunes, usually because I get suckered into the 'if you like this, you might like that' endless loop. But I still have to install Amazon's download software on occasion, at least it puts the purchase in Itunes now. Amazon's artist page isn't organized as neatly as Itunes, I agree, where you can move seamlessly through artists and albums.
bootbead
Dec. 20, 2010 14:58pm