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  • From: stablenet AT nc.rr.com
  • To: ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: Rhapsody for Macs
  • Date: 15 Dec 2005 20:34:03 -0800

I think this is foolish on the part of Rhapsody.

Through my dealings with the Future of Music Coaltion, I've become
familiar with Rhapsody and you're absolutely right Glenn, it's a great
service.

Mac users tend to be disproportionately artistic and/or musical. iTunes
has set the benchmark for online music purchases. So why do certain
services (Rhapsody is not alone) ignore Mac users?
MP3.com is another example. They carry tunes that I would like to buy.
Things that aren't available on iTunes and are difficult to find in
record stores. I have money that I'd like to give them but they don't
want it because I use a Mac.
A personal interaction with a rep from MP3.com lead me to believe that
politics were involved. They consider iPods and iTunes (their
competition) one in the same, so they exclude Mac geeks. They do this
at their peril. As many closed technologies have proven in the past,
this is a poor business model. Betamax was superior to VHS, but the
latter won the war because of more open distribution and licensing.
Apple doesn't care if you use a Rio or an iPod - they will sell you an
MP3 regardless. As a result, they carry the lion's share of the market
and iTunes keeps gettin better.

Inclusion is good for all vendors. As has been discussed on this board
before, when Starbucks comes to town, the local coffee shops tend to do
better because the bar gets raised and a "coffee culture" emerges. If
MP3 distributors want to cut into the market, why limit themselves in
*any* way?

So, for discussion, why do Rhapsody and MP3.com do what they do
considering history's lessons? Am I missing something?





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