Paul Jacobson

Enough to drive a person to piracy

I really dig the Nelly Furtado track “Say it right” and I have been looking for a place I can buy the single from online and I am at a loss.

Nelly Furtado.jpgOh sure the song is on iTunes and I would love to be able to buy it there (along with loads of other music) but the powers that be at Apple have deemed us South Africans unworthy and because I don’t have the right credit card and foreign address details to spoof the system, I am left with very few legal options.

Sure, one option is to just go out there and buy the album … have you seen what these things cost lately? A CD costs R150. Wow! Ok, so I haven’t bought a CD in a while but I really remember when they were a lot cheaper. Another option is to go to a store that sells Windows Media Audio encoded music (shudder!) and buy the song there, rip it to a CD and then import into iTunes (which probably isn’t legal so that isn’t a great option either) but the one local option likely to have the song, Musica, told me that Internet Explorer 7 was the wrong browser for the site (I needed IE 6 or better – just not IE 7) and that was the end of that idea.

So instead we are once again left in this dusty backwater town on the Web, not trusted to buy music from the iTunes store despite what must be the tremendous success of the iPod here in South Africa (witness the iPodcast competition being promoted by Apple SA). This really pisses me off. No wonder some people pirate music, they are not given legal options to buy music online if they are not in a major market. I mean seriously, what does it really cost to open the iTunes Store here (even without the movies and TV series we will get to in 5 years time when our TV networks decide to put them on – another rant) and let us Saffas buy loads of music from the store? Doesn’t Apple like our money? It seems to love our money when we spend it in the Apple store or on Apple products, so why not online, in the iTunes Store where we could rather spend all our money buying music from Apple than from the likes of Look & Listen and Musica?

And you know the worst part of it all? No-one from Apple is going to tell us when we can expect to be blessed with access to the iTunes Store. All we will get is a bland, unhelpful statement that there are no plans to open the iTunes Store in South Africa this century, or at all. Aside from quality issues with recent Apple products, this is the one thing that really brings me to despise Apple on days like this.

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Comments

  1. rafiq avatar
    rafiq

    Photo taken & published with Nikki’s permission. Learnt my lesson about publishing photos without permission the hard way 🙂

    Reply
  2. rafiq avatar
    rafiq

    Photo taken & published with Nikki’s permission. Learnt my lesson about publishing photos without permission the hard way 🙂

    Reply
  3. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Care to share your experiences?

    Reply
  4. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Care to share your experiences?

    Reply
  5. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    Paul, I share your frustration, as do many of us. Musica and Pick n play really aren’t up to scratch.
    Tell me if this make sense to you: I heard that apple is holding back, as us South Africans prefer our compilation CDs, rather than Artist albums. Therefore, we prefer music in the “head” rather than buying into the “tail.” I haven’t seen any data to back that up, so I can’t say that it’s true. It’s an interesting thought though. Wouldn’t it be great to see Bok van Blerk available in iTunes.

    Reply
  6. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    Paul, I share your frustration, as do many of us. Musica and Pick n play really aren’t up to scratch.
    Tell me if this make sense to you: I heard that apple is holding back, as us South Africans prefer our compilation CDs, rather than Artist albums. Therefore, we prefer music in the “head” rather than buying into the “tail.” I haven’t seen any data to back that up, so I can’t say that it’s true. It’s an interesting thought though. Wouldn’t it be great to see Bok van Blerk available in iTunes.

    Reply
  7. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    Paul, I share your frustration, as do many of us. Musica and Pick n play really aren’t up to scratch.
    Tell me if this make sense to you: I heard that apple is holding back, as us South Africans prefer our compilation CDs, rather than Artist albums. Therefore, we prefer music in the “head” rather than buying into the “tail.” I haven’t seen any data to back that up, so I can’t say that it’s true. It’s an interesting thought though. Wouldn’t it be great to see Bok van Blerk available in iTunes.

    Reply
  8. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    Paul, I share your frustration, as do many of us. Musica and Pick n play really aren't up to scratch.
    Tell me if this make sense to you: I heard that apple is holding back, as us South Africans prefer our compilation CDs, rather than Artist albums. Therefore, we prefer music in the “head” rather than buying into the “tail.” I haven't seen any data to back that up, so I can't say that it's true. It's an interesting thought though. Wouldn't it be great to see Bok van Blerk available in iTunes.

    Reply
  9. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    My first thought it that it could be that our choices are also driven, to an extent, by the options available to us. Compilations are appealing because they offer the singles we want on one CD so rather than spending, say, R900 for 6 singles we like we spend R150 on a compilation that has those 6 singles and a couple more.

    If what you are saying is the rationale Apple is using then it actually doesn’t make sense. If we are inclined to buy compilations and that tendency has little to do with the cost of a few full albums compared to a decent compilation then wouldn’t we still be a great market for the iTunes Store. You can buy singles on the iTunes Store as well as full albums.

    And ja, it would be awesome to see Bok van Blerk and all the other SA artists on the iTunes Store.

    Reply
  10. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    My first thought it that it could be that our choices are also driven, to an extent, by the options available to us. Compilations are appealing because they offer the singles we want on one CD so rather than spending, say, R900 for 6 singles we like we spend R150 on a compilation that has those 6 singles and a couple more.

    If what you are saying is the rationale Apple is using then it actually doesn’t make sense. If we are inclined to buy compilations and that tendency has little to do with the cost of a few full albums compared to a decent compilation then wouldn’t we still be a great market for the iTunes Store. You can buy singles on the iTunes Store as well as full albums.

    And ja, it would be awesome to see Bok van Blerk and all the other SA artists on the iTunes Store.

    Reply
  11. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    My first thought it that it could be that our choices are also driven, to an extent, by the options available to us. Compilations are appealing because they offer the singles we want on one CD so rather than spending, say, R900 for 6 singles we like we spend R150 on a compilation that has those 6 singles and a couple more.

    If what you are saying is the rationale Apple is using then it actually doesn’t make sense. If we are inclined to buy compilations and that tendency has little to do with the cost of a few full albums compared to a decent compilation then wouldn’t we still be a great market for the iTunes Store. You can buy singles on the iTunes Store as well as full albums.

    And ja, it would be awesome to see Bok van Blerk and all the other SA artists on the iTunes Store.

    Reply
  12. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    My first thought it that it could be that our choices are also driven, to an extent, by the options available to us. Compilations are appealing because they offer the singles we want on one CD so rather than spending, say, R900 for 6 singles we like we spend R150 on a compilation that has those 6 singles and a couple more.

    If what you are saying is the rationale Apple is using then it actually doesn't make sense. If we are inclined to buy compilations and that tendency has little to do with the cost of a few full albums compared to a decent compilation then wouldn't we still be a great market for the iTunes Store. You can buy singles on the iTunes Store as well as full albums.

    And ja, it would be awesome to see Bok van Blerk and all the other SA artists on the iTunes Store.

    Reply
  13. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    You make a good point, I think the benefit is clearly there. What is the story with Apple in South Africa? Are Core still their distribution company?

    Reply
  14. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    You make a good point, I think the benefit is clearly there. What is the story with Apple in South Africa? Are Core still their distribution company?

    Reply
  15. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    You make a good point, I think the benefit is clearly there. What is the story with Apple in South Africa? Are Core still their distribution company?

    Reply
  16. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    You make a good point, I think the benefit is clearly there. What is the story with Apple in South Africa? Are Core still their distribution company?

    Reply
  17. Justin Hartman avatar
    Justin Hartman

    Paul, you should try buy.com as I buy all my music online there. Songs cost $0.79 for most and you can get eveything. The only problem (as with all these sites) is the DRM stuff so you’ll have to have a PC with Windows Media Player on it so that you can burn it to disk.

    Once on disk you can pull into iTunes and that DRM issue is gone! This is what I do 🙂

    Reply
  18. Justin Hartman avatar
    Justin Hartman

    Paul, you should try buy.com as I buy all my music online there. Songs cost $0.79 for most and you can get eveything. The only problem (as with all these sites) is the DRM stuff so you’ll have to have a PC with Windows Media Player on it so that you can burn it to disk.

    Once on disk you can pull into iTunes and that DRM issue is gone! This is what I do 🙂

    Reply
  19. Justin Hartman avatar
    Justin Hartman

    Paul, you should try buy.com as I buy all my music online there. Songs cost $0.79 for most and you can get eveything. The only problem (as with all these sites) is the DRM stuff so you’ll have to have a PC with Windows Media Player on it so that you can burn it to disk.

    Once on disk you can pull into iTunes and that DRM issue is gone! This is what I do 🙂

    Reply
  20. Justin Hartman avatar
    Justin Hartman

    Paul, you should try http://buy.com“>buy.com as I buy all my music online there. Songs cost $0.79 for most and you can get eveything. The only problem (as with all these sites) is the DRM stuff so you'll have to have a PC with Windows Media Player on it so that you can burn it to disk.

    Once on disk you can pull into iTunes and that DRM issue is gone! This is what I do 🙂

    Reply
  21. Wezzo avatar
    Wezzo

    If we can freely download, watch and listen to the YouTube video what’s stopping us from converting that to mp3 using http://vixy.net“ rel=”nofollow”>vixy.net or others? Is that illegal?

    Reply
  22. Wezzo avatar
    Wezzo

    If we can freely download, watch and listen to the YouTube video what's stopping us from converting that to mp3 using http://vixy.net“ rel=”nofollow”>vixy.net or others? Is that illegal?

    Reply
  23. Wezzo avatar
    Wezzo

    If we can freely download, watch and listen to the YouTube video what’s stopping us from converting that to mp3 using http://vixy.net“ rel=”nofollow”>vixy.net or others? Is that illegal?

    Reply
  24. Wezzo avatar
    Wezzo

    If we can freely download, watch and listen to the YouTube video what’s stopping us from converting that to mp3 using http://vixy.net“ rel=”nofollow”>vixy.net or others? Is that illegal?

    Reply
  25. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Technically creating a derivative of music we can get from other services with DRM is illegal although often very easy to do. This is what drives me a bit nuts.

    Incidentally, after my wife read this post she came to me and asked if my fists were sore from my little tantrum … 😛

    Reply
  26. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Technically creating a derivative of music we can get from other services with DRM is illegal although often very easy to do. This is what drives me a bit nuts.

    Incidentally, after my wife read this post she came to me and asked if my fists were sore from my little tantrum … 😛

    Reply
  27. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Technically creating a derivative of music we can get from other services with DRM is illegal although often very easy to do. This is what drives me a bit nuts.

    Incidentally, after my wife read this post she came to me and asked if my fists were sore from my little tantrum … 😛

    Reply
  28. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Technically creating a derivative of music we can get from other services with DRM is illegal although often very easy to do. This is what drives me a bit nuts.

    Incidentally, after my wife read this post she came to me and asked if my fists were sore from my little tantrum … 😛

    Reply
  29. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks for the tip Justin. I may just use that option to get some fresh music. At least the purchases themselves are legit.

    Reply
  30. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks for the tip Justin. I may just use that option to get some fresh music. At least the purchases themselves are legit.

    Reply
  31. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks for the tip Justin. I may just use that option to get some fresh music. At least the purchases themselves are legit.

    Reply
  32. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks for the tip Justin. I may just use that option to get some fresh music. At least the purchases themselves are legit.

    Reply
  33. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I am really confused… and angry at the SA market!!

    There are all these laws to try and prevent the illegal reproduction of music, yet if you do end up in court because some traffic cop thought it funny to arrest you because of the copied discs in your car, and you are able to prove that you legally own the originals you get scott free! This basically places you between the devil and the deep blue see!

    What is the use then of these laws, as they are not properly enforced. A few bucks will probably save you the court hearing as well!!

    The record companies only have themselves to blame for the situation we are in and again they aren’t helping the situation. R150 for a disc lately is kind of ‘cheap’, I actually paid 210 bucks for one CD from L&L in the last week. This is a rip-off, that same disc is in US between $7 and $14 (I just couldn’t wait, for I would’ve bought it from overseas). $1 is basically for the US as R1 is in SA, I’ve never been overseas so no idea really but if this equation is roughly accurate we are being ripped off in every bloody store!!

    With a basic salary of say R7000 in SA you will be able to, if you’re crazy enough, purchase as little as 33 CD’s @ R210, if in the US you get the equivalent (R7=$1) $1000 you will be able to purchase a whopping 71 CD’s @ a cost of $14 per disc. This clearly shows that we are being ripped off, where did the other 38 CD’s go? There is NOTHING that goes into a CD that will be mass produced that would make R200 a CD reasonable. The sad fact is tat very little of that money goes to the Artists. I once purchased a limited edition CD from L&L and was able to get a total of R130 off from R1300, and I won’t have anybody tell me that they lost on that deal! I agree that this would drive 99% of people wanting to copy the disc from us instead of paying for it – Hello piracy!!

    I have to mention that I have a collection of 300+ Original CD’s (Very proud of this, and the entire household collection of 900+) and not one single copied disc (Even more proud of this!). I don’t mind paying R200 for a CD because I feel that the Artist deserve every little cent that they get! Even if it is because I like only one song on the entire disc, all I want in return for these ridiculous fees is the free PERSONAL use as I like. I feel I deserve this, even a guy who legally purchased one CD should have the right to any form of personal use of that disc.

    I am actually looking at purchasing an Apple Ipod, purely for use in my car as it has a single disc changer not supporting MP3 format (which in any case is as illegal to use in this case) because having the Ipod is safer in the sense that I don’t have to change discs the whole time and endanger my life and the lives of people around me while driving. The law won’t stop me, at all! I have actually downloaded Itunes and copied about a third of my music already so that once I get the thing (just dealing for a better price from Apple) it is only the Syncing that’s left.

    It is actually ironic how the whole MP3 thing became illegal! Correct me if I’m wrong but the MP3 was initially created for people to download free of charge to hear what the band sounds like and you were by agreement (EULA of Napster etc. then) forced to delete after 3 days. This obviously got out of hand because no one had kept to the EULA and started these huge collections as one would find on some client’s pc’s lately. Now they are trying to make every one else pay for their own stupid fault! It is a shame!

    I don’t think that the Itunes store being eventually available in SA would affect the CD sales that much! There are obviously the people that won’t purchase in store CD’s anymore, but there are the crazy people like myself who will pay to download a song to hear what it sounds like and then go out and buy the CD because it gives me some sort of satisfactory feeling to have the original disc and lastly there is a very small percentage people out of 44million that can afford a MP3 player and access to internet to purchase and download music. They will still go out and buy CD’s.

    Fighting the law and the record companies would be like making a fire in the middle of the sea! Things will eventually work out the way they should, we just need to be even a little more patient!

    Peace

    disgusted@musicindustries.in.sa

    Reply
  34. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I am really confused… and angry at the SA market!!

    There are all these laws to try and prevent the illegal reproduction of music, yet if you do end up in court because some traffic cop thought it funny to arrest you because of the copied discs in your car, and you are able to prove that you legally own the originals you get scott free! This basically places you between the devil and the deep blue see!

    What is the use then of these laws, as they are not properly enforced. A few bucks will probably save you the court hearing as well!!

    The record companies only have themselves to blame for the situation we are in and again they aren’t helping the situation. R150 for a disc lately is kind of ‘cheap’, I actually paid 210 bucks for one CD from L&L in the last week. This is a rip-off, that same disc is in US between $7 and $14 (I just couldn’t wait, for I would’ve bought it from overseas). $1 is basically for the US as R1 is in SA, I’ve never been overseas so no idea really but if this equation is roughly accurate we are being ripped off in every bloody store!!

    With a basic salary of say R7000 in SA you will be able to, if you’re crazy enough, purchase as little as 33 CD’s @ R210, if in the US you get the equivalent (R7=$1) $1000 you will be able to purchase a whopping 71 CD’s @ a cost of $14 per disc. This clearly shows that we are being ripped off, where did the other 38 CD’s go? There is NOTHING that goes into a CD that will be mass produced that would make R200 a CD reasonable. The sad fact is tat very little of that money goes to the Artists. I once purchased a limited edition CD from L&L and was able to get a total of R130 off from R1300, and I won’t have anybody tell me that they lost on that deal! I agree that this would drive 99% of people wanting to copy the disc from us instead of paying for it – Hello piracy!!

    I have to mention that I have a collection of 300+ Original CD’s (Very proud of this, and the entire household collection of 900+) and not one single copied disc (Even more proud of this!). I don’t mind paying R200 for a CD because I feel that the Artist deserve every little cent that they get! Even if it is because I like only one song on the entire disc, all I want in return for these ridiculous fees is the free PERSONAL use as I like. I feel I deserve this, even a guy who legally purchased one CD should have the right to any form of personal use of that disc.

    I am actually looking at purchasing an Apple Ipod, purely for use in my car as it has a single disc changer not supporting MP3 format (which in any case is as illegal to use in this case) because having the Ipod is safer in the sense that I don’t have to change discs the whole time and endanger my life and the lives of people around me while driving. The law won’t stop me, at all! I have actually downloaded Itunes and copied about a third of my music already so that once I get the thing (just dealing for a better price from Apple) it is only the Syncing that’s left.

    It is actually ironic how the whole MP3 thing became illegal! Correct me if I’m wrong but the MP3 was initially created for people to download free of charge to hear what the band sounds like and you were by agreement (EULA of Napster etc. then) forced to delete after 3 days. This obviously got out of hand because no one had kept to the EULA and started these huge collections as one would find on some client’s pc’s lately. Now they are trying to make every one else pay for their own stupid fault! It is a shame!

    I don’t think that the Itunes store being eventually available in SA would affect the CD sales that much! There are obviously the people that won’t purchase in store CD’s anymore, but there are the crazy people like myself who will pay to download a song to hear what it sounds like and then go out and buy the CD because it gives me some sort of satisfactory feeling to have the original disc and lastly there is a very small percentage people out of 44million that can afford a MP3 player and access to internet to purchase and download music. They will still go out and buy CD’s.

    Fighting the law and the record companies would be like making a fire in the middle of the sea! Things will eventually work out the way they should, we just need to be even a little more patient!

    Peace

    disgusted@musicindustries.in.sa

    Reply
  35. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I am really confused… and angry at the SA market!!

    There are all these laws to try and prevent the illegal reproduction of music, yet if you do end up in court because some traffic cop thought it funny to arrest you because of the copied discs in your car, and you are able to prove that you legally own the originals you get scott free! This basically places you between the devil and the deep blue see!

    What is the use then of these laws, as they are not properly enforced. A few bucks will probably save you the court hearing as well!!

    The record companies only have themselves to blame for the situation we are in and again they aren’t helping the situation. R150 for a disc lately is kind of ‘cheap’, I actually paid 210 bucks for one CD from L&L in the last week. This is a rip-off, that same disc is in US between $7 and $14 (I just couldn’t wait, for I would’ve bought it from overseas). $1 is basically for the US as R1 is in SA, I’ve never been overseas so no idea really but if this equation is roughly accurate we are being ripped off in every bloody store!!

    With a basic salary of say R7000 in SA you will be able to, if you’re crazy enough, purchase as little as 33 CD’s @ R210, if in the US you get the equivalent (R7=$1) $1000 you will be able to purchase a whopping 71 CD’s @ a cost of $14 per disc. This clearly shows that we are being ripped off, where did the other 38 CD’s go? There is NOTHING that goes into a CD that will be mass produced that would make R200 a CD reasonable. The sad fact is tat very little of that money goes to the Artists. I once purchased a limited edition CD from L&L and was able to get a total of R130 off from R1300, and I won’t have anybody tell me that they lost on that deal! I agree that this would drive 99% of people wanting to copy the disc from us instead of paying for it – Hello piracy!!

    I have to mention that I have a collection of 300+ Original CD’s (Very proud of this, and the entire household collection of 900+) and not one single copied disc (Even more proud of this!). I don’t mind paying R200 for a CD because I feel that the Artist deserve every little cent that they get! Even if it is because I like only one song on the entire disc, all I want in return for these ridiculous fees is the free PERSONAL use as I like. I feel I deserve this, even a guy who legally purchased one CD should have the right to any form of personal use of that disc.

    I am actually looking at purchasing an Apple Ipod, purely for use in my car as it has a single disc changer not supporting MP3 format (which in any case is as illegal to use in this case) because having the Ipod is safer in the sense that I don’t have to change discs the whole time and endanger my life and the lives of people around me while driving. The law won’t stop me, at all! I have actually downloaded Itunes and copied about a third of my music already so that once I get the thing (just dealing for a better price from Apple) it is only the Syncing that’s left.

    It is actually ironic how the whole MP3 thing became illegal! Correct me if I’m wrong but the MP3 was initially created for people to download free of charge to hear what the band sounds like and you were by agreement (EULA of Napster etc. then) forced to delete after 3 days. This obviously got out of hand because no one had kept to the EULA and started these huge collections as one would find on some client’s pc’s lately. Now they are trying to make every one else pay for their own stupid fault! It is a shame!

    I don’t think that the Itunes store being eventually available in SA would affect the CD sales that much! There are obviously the people that won’t purchase in store CD’s anymore, but there are the crazy people like myself who will pay to download a song to hear what it sounds like and then go out and buy the CD because it gives me some sort of satisfactory feeling to have the original disc and lastly there is a very small percentage people out of 44million that can afford a MP3 player and access to internet to purchase and download music. They will still go out and buy CD’s.

    Fighting the law and the record companies would be like making a fire in the middle of the sea! Things will eventually work out the way they should, we just need to be even a little more patient!

    Peace

    disgusted@musicindustries.in.sa

    Reply
  36. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I am really confused… and angry at the SA market!!

    There are all these laws to try and prevent the illegal reproduction of music, yet if you do end up in court because some traffic cop thought it funny to arrest you because of the copied discs in your car, and you are able to prove that you legally own the originals you get scott free! This basically places you between the devil and the deep blue see!

    What is the use then of these laws, as they are not properly enforced. A few bucks will probably save you the court hearing as well!!

    The record companies only have themselves to blame for the situation we are in and again they aren't helping the situation. R150 for a disc lately is kind of 'cheap', I actually paid 210 bucks for one CD from L&L in the last week. This is a rip-off, that same disc is in US between $7 and $14 (I just couldn't wait, for I would've bought it from overseas). $1 is basically for the US as R1 is in SA, I've never been overseas so no idea really but if this equation is roughly accurate we are being ripped off in every bloody store!!

    With a basic salary of say R7000 in SA you will be able to, if you're crazy enough, purchase as little as 33 CD's @ R210, if in the US you get the equivalent (R7=$1) $1000 you will be able to purchase a whopping 71 CD's @ a cost of $14 per disc. This clearly shows that we are being ripped off, where did the other 38 CD's go? There is NOTHING that goes into a CD that will be mass produced that would make R200 a CD reasonable. The sad fact is tat very little of that money goes to the Artists. I once purchased a limited edition CD from L&L and was able to get a total of R130 off from R1300, and I won't have anybody tell me that they lost on that deal! I agree that this would drive 99% of people wanting to copy the disc from us instead of paying for it – Hello piracy!!

    I have to mention that I have a collection of 300+ Original CD's (Very proud of this, and the entire household collection of 900+) and not one single copied disc (Even more proud of this!). I don't mind paying R200 for a CD because I feel that the Artist deserve every little cent that they get! Even if it is because I like only one song on the entire disc, all I want in return for these ridiculous fees is the free PERSONAL use as I like. I feel I deserve this, even a guy who legally purchased one CD should have the right to any form of personal use of that disc.

    I am actually looking at purchasing an Apple Ipod, purely for use in my car as it has a single disc changer not supporting MP3 format (which in any case is as illegal to use in this case) because having the Ipod is safer in the sense that I don't have to change discs the whole time and endanger my life and the lives of people around me while driving. The law won't stop me, at all! I have actually downloaded Itunes and copied about a third of my music already so that once I get the thing (just dealing for a better price from Apple) it is only the Syncing that's left.

    It is actually ironic how the whole MP3 thing became illegal! Correct me if I'm wrong but the MP3 was initially created for people to download free of charge to hear what the band sounds like and you were by agreement (EULA of Napster etc. then) forced to delete after 3 days. This obviously got out of hand because no one had kept to the EULA and started these huge collections as one would find on some client's pc's lately. Now they are trying to make every one else pay for their own stupid fault! It is a shame!

    I don't think that the Itunes store being eventually available in SA would affect the CD sales that much! There are obviously the people that won't purchase in store CD's anymore, but there are the crazy people like myself who will pay to download a song to hear what it sounds like and then go out and buy the CD because it gives me some sort of satisfactory feeling to have the original disc and lastly there is a very small percentage people out of 44million that can afford a MP3 player and access to internet to purchase and download music. They will still go out and buy CD's.

    Fighting the law and the record companies would be like making a fire in the middle of the sea! Things will eventually work out the way they should, we just need to be even a little more patient!

    Peace

    disgusted@musicindustries.in.sa

    Reply
  37. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Oh wow. I thought I had a rant. You definitely win in the rant department disgusted, and rightly so.

    Reply
  38. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Oh wow. I thought I had a rant. You definitely win in the rant department disgusted, and rightly so.

    Reply
  39. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Oh wow. I thought I had a rant. You definitely win in the rant department disgusted, and rightly so.

    Reply
  40. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Oh wow. I thought I had a rant. You definitely win in the rant department disgusted, and rightly so.

    Reply
  41. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I’m finally getting my Ipod on Monday!! Paying less for the Ipod and a FM transmitter for in the car than most guys pay for just the Ipod!

    Reply
  42. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I’m finally getting my Ipod on Monday!! Paying less for the Ipod and a FM transmitter for in the car than most guys pay for just the Ipod!

    Reply
  43. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I’m finally getting my Ipod on Monday!! Paying less for the Ipod and a FM transmitter for in the car than most guys pay for just the Ipod!

    Reply
  44. disgusted@musicindustries.in.s avatar
    disgusted@musicindustries.in.s

    I'm finally getting my Ipod on Monday!! Paying less for the Ipod and a FM transmitter for in the car than most guys pay for just the Ipod!

    Reply
  45. Online MP3 Downloads avatar
    Online MP3 Downloads

    Online MP3 Downloads…

    I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

    Reply
  46. Online MP3 Downloads avatar
    Online MP3 Downloads

    Online MP3 Downloads…

    I couldn't understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

    Reply
  47. Latest Book Reviews avatar
    Latest Book Reviews

    Latest Book Reviews…

    I couldn't understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

    Reply
  48. Latest Book Reviews avatar
    Latest Book Reviews

    Latest Book Reviews…

    I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

    Reply
  49. Charl avatar
    Charl

    Hi guys,

    Just a quick comment on Disgusted’s rant above. If you pay R210 for a CD, this is most probably an imported disc. The disc is imported by the store itself, so this is why the cost is so high. They paid the price of buying it overseas and then imported it themselves. So you are paying for the disc, the shipping costs, the import duties and most proabably the foreign exchange loss (depending on timing of course)

    Yes, most people may feel like R150 is a lot of money for an album, but I ask you this… I remember in 1998 a CD was just over R100 (if my memory serves me correct). Let’s call it R110. So CD prices have increased by about R40 in over 10 years. So call it R4 per year. That’s only 3.64%. I think you’ll find that is a similar price increase year on year than other similar products, such as computer games or movie DVD’s. I stand to be corrected on these prices, so feel free to comment. That’s how I remember them…

    The price of music has definitely been affected by piracy, of that there is no doubt.

    That aside, I completely agree with you. I feel that the Apple has absolutely no reason not to open a music store in South Africa. They have opened the application store for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, so the billing system is now in place, it’s just a case of getting the rights to distribute music in South Africa. And the record companies will never slow that process down as they stand to make some money for almost no effort. The artists will also benefit greatly, apple will make money. Hell, everybody wins. I really cannot understand why our money is not good enough.

    Reply
  50. Charl avatar
    Charl

    Hi guys,

    Just a quick comment on Disgusted’s rant above. If you pay R210 for a CD, this is most probably an imported disc. The disc is imported by the store itself, so this is why the cost is so high. They paid the price of buying it overseas and then imported it themselves. So you are paying for the disc, the shipping costs, the import duties and most proabably the foreign exchange loss (depending on timing of course)

    Yes, most people may feel like R150 is a lot of money for an album, but I ask you this… I remember in 1998 a CD was just over R100 (if my memory serves me correct). Let’s call it R110. So CD prices have increased by about R40 in over 10 years. So call it R4 per year. That’s only 3.64%. I think you’ll find that is a similar price increase year on year than other similar products, such as computer games or movie DVD’s. I stand to be corrected on these prices, so feel free to comment. That’s how I remember them…

    The price of music has definitely been affected by piracy, of that there is no doubt.

    That aside, I completely agree with you. I feel that the Apple has absolutely no reason not to open a music store in South Africa. They have opened the application store for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, so the billing system is now in place, it’s just a case of getting the rights to distribute music in South Africa. And the record companies will never slow that process down as they stand to make some money for almost no effort. The artists will also benefit greatly, apple will make money. Hell, everybody wins. I really cannot understand why our money is not good enough.

    Reply
  51. pauljacobson avatar
    pauljacobson

    Hey Charl

    You know, I’m not so sure the music industry won’t frustrate the process of licensing music for sale online in SA. Nokia was forced to accept DRM’d music in .wma before it could make the music it sells through the Nokia Music Store available in SA. I am beginning to think Apple was in the enviable position where it could exploit its position in the marketplace to force un-DRM’d options. Other providers are still subject to the music industry’s irrational whims.

    Reply
  52. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Charl

    You know, I’m not so sure the music industry won’t frustrate the process of licensing music for sale online in SA. Nokia was forced to accept DRM’d music in .wma before it could make the music it sells through the Nokia Music Store available in SA. I am beginning to think Apple was in the enviable position where it could exploit its position in the marketplace to force un-DRM’d options. Other providers are still subject to the music industry’s irrational whims.

    Reply

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