You’ll remember a while back I threw a letter in the direction of the Times on the subject of some rather shoddy technology reporting.
Sometimes tech reporting drives me mad. According to the Times the iTunes Music Store has refused to sell the new BandAid song because it would mean altering its track price - they’re probably right to do this as they can’t make any exceptions to their policy lest the big labels start pushing for more concessions based on that precedent.
I was more annoyed by their ridiculously unfounded contention that millions of iPod owners would be unable to play the Band Aid 20 track (check my original post for the reasons why that’s a disgraceful lie).
However in a new attempt to discredit the iTunes Music Store, the Times is now reporting that Apple has decided to sell the song at 79p to stick to its business model and donate the difference to the Band Aid charity. This is a remarkably selfless act and it follows the iTMS’s strict adherence to their business model, how is it reported?
The apparently magnanimous gesture has been condemned by Apple’s competitors who have accused the company of hijacking the biggest charity event of 2004 to win itself more customers.
The big players in the online music industry, including the re-legalised Napster, HMV and MyCokeMusic, had all agreed to sell the single for £1.49 and pass the proceeds to Band Aid for projects in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan and elsewhere in Africa.
What the hell!? Apple takes a hit from a service that barely scrapes a few million dollars a year in profits and its competitors complain that it’s doing it in a selfish attempt to grab market share? Apart from the utterly laughable assertion that HMV, MyCokeMusic and Napster are “The big players” when they account for something less than 30% of the market compared to Apple’s 70%+ they have a go at Apple for actually sticking to their guns and donating considerable funds to charity.
The thinly veiled anti-apple bias is rather pathetic from a journal of the Time’s stature.
Incidentally I bought the Band Aid 20 single on the iTunes Music Store and as it makes no difference to the amount of money that will be given to charity I am happy to say that it is total crap. Abysmal. Appalling and horrific on every level. There are voices in there that truly do not deserve solos, some vocalists insist on screwing with tempo and timing to make themselves seem cool and the rap sequence is so dire that if played to the Sudanese refugees it would probably finish the job the Sudan government started. Only Robbie Williams makes up for some gargling singer maiming Bono’s signature lyric. What an utter travesty, I’d even listen to convicted pedophile Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Christmas” before I deigned to play the new Band Aid track again.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at December 1, 2004 11:28 PM | TrackBack