Apple Music Store is out. Three years after Napster there is finally a pay-per-song, jukebox-style application and, like everything Apple do, it looks beautifully executed. But is this a good deal?
Each song costs 99c.
An average CD has 10 tracks.
CD list price: $19
CD wholesale price: c $12
Ave. cost of pressing and shipping: $2
Looking at these numbers, the music industry has only been prepared to discount the music by the actual cost of manufacturing and shipping the CD.
In other words the arrogance and stupidity of the music labels is unabated, they still refuse to admit that online music changes the economics and mechanics of the marketing and distribution of music beyond removing the costs of a physical storage medium.
Perhaps this isn’t so much the death of the CD, but another step towards their own suicide.