New Media like iTunes is on the web, however they still charge people to buy songs and music videos, etc. This is the old media way of doing business. The new new media way of doing business is by making everything as free as possible. If you want to listen and/or watch Bruce Springsteen's song "Born To Run," why pay $1.29 on iTunes to buy the song, when you can listen to it for free on YouTube? Free is better, and that is one big advantage new new media has over new media on the web.
However, iTunes does have it's advantages. First off once you buy the song you may access from your computer with iTunes, or practically any other medium that has the letter "i" in front of it (i.e. iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc.). Secondly, you do not have to worry about any copyright problems that YouTube has had in the past with people posting videos or recordings online. Thirdly, the library of music available on iTunes is greater than that of YouTube's and because iTunes is dedicated to music and other media it sells, it is much more organized than YouTube is.
In short, even though free is better, iTunes will still endure despite YouTube. iTunes may struggle a bit because of YouTube, but YouTube will not be the sole cause of death for iTunes.
I agree with you that YouTube is a serious problem that iTunes faces. On the one hand YouTube offers free music that you can listen to whenever you have access to an Internet browser or the YouTube app. On the other hand, songs that you buy on iTunes or any other digital download service can be stored on your computer or anything that plays mp3s(pretty much everything) and there's a certain beauty to that. Not the same beauty as having a tangible copy of that music, but I digress... YouTube acts almost like commercial free radio with the additional ability to choose the song you want. You can listen to them, but (at least for the everyday user) can't download them.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree that iTunes has the advantage in terms of a more expansive library. YouTube has ANYTHING you could ever dream of listening to. For example, iTunes only recently added The Beatles' music to their catalog, but YouTube has had it for years. Whereas iTunes has one version of the songs, YouTube has rips from the original vinyl albums, the original CD transfers, the recent 2009 stereo remasters, the 2009 mono remasters, live versions, unreleased songs, riffs taken from studio sessions, and more. There are still artists that are not on iTunes altogether, such as AC/DC. YouTube is also great for listening to soundtracks from movies or video games.
An advantage that iTunes has over YouTube is the quality of the songs. Sometimes YouTube uploads come from bad copies of the song and don't sound clear. The good thing about YouTube is that you can always search for another version because someone out there has probably uploaded it.
iTunes does have the playlists as well. There is rivalry between the two regarding video as well as audio. And then there are streaming services like Pandora. Lot's of uncertainty right now!
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