I’ve read several articles over the last few months relating to how Apple always seem to be ‘working’ with record labels and movie distributors to improve sales of albums and movies on the iTunes store. Most recently is the news that they may be looking to include better ‘digital booklets’, or some kind of ‘interactive digital booklet’. Now, dont get me wrong, I like iTunes. I regularly buy my music from iTunes, but mostly, it’s just singles, or the odd specially-priced EP. Sometimes even a music video. I’ve not bought a single movie or music album from the iTunes store. I also know that I’m not alone with this. There’s a very good reason I don’t buy movies or music albums for download, and one that Apple (and the record companies/movie studios) seem to be ignoring.

As an example, let’s look at the top 5 albums currently in the iTunes music store:

1. Now That’s What I Call Music!, Vol 73 – Various Artists
iTunes Price: £16.99
CDWOW CD Price: £ 10.99

2. iTunes Price:Lungs – Florence & The Machine
iTunes Price: £7.99
CDWOW CD Price: £6.99

3. Number Ones – Michael Jackson
iTunes Price: £5.99
CDWOW CD Price: £5.99

4. The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) – Black Eyed Peas
iTunes Price: £7.99
CDWOW CD Price: £6.99

5. La Roux – La Roux
iTunes Price: £7.99
CDWOW CD Price: £6.99

iTunes albums have been getting cheaper, but the £6 difference between the prices of the ‘Now’ album is staggering. Out of the other 4 albums, there’s no difference between the Michael Jackson album versions, and the remaining 3 all cost £1 less for a physical CD. If you prefer the instant gratification from instant download, then the iTunes version may be preferable. Personally, I think that the short wait for a physical CD to be delivered is worth it for original-quality backup purposes alone.

Now, lets look at my biggest issue with the iTunes store – Movies. Again, going with the top 5 movies in the iTunes movie store:

1.Marley & Me (2009)
iTunes Price:  £10.99
CDWOW DVD Price: £10.99

2. Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
iTunes Price: £3.99
Amazon DVD Price: £4.98 (Double Pack)

3.  The Dark Knight (2008)
iTunes Price:  £6.99
Amazon DVD Price: £5.98 (2 Disc)

4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
iTunes Price: £6.99
Amazon DVD Price: £3.98

5. Borat (2007)
iTunes Price: £6.99
Amazon DVD Price: £3.98

I’m impressed with some of the lower priced movie offerings from iTunes, especially the Ice Age pricing. However, for less than £1 more, you can buy the Double DVD version, which includes the first Ice Age film! With the exception of Marley & Me (a new release), which is the same price for both download and DVD, all of these movies can be purchased cheaper in DVD format. Not only that, but some are even the 2 disc versions, offering much more than just the movie.

How can these download prices be justified? Whilst I appreciate that there are hosting, admin and bandwidth costs to consider, these are inconsequential in comparison to the manufacturing and distribution costs of physical media. In my opinion, Apple need to stop worrying about bundling unnecessary ‘digital booklets’ and other such gimmicks, and just make these downloads cheaper. If they truly want to stop people from illegally downloading music and movies, stop making them so prohibitively expensive! I’m a big believer in the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid. Why keep trying to add all the superfluous nonsense in order to keep the price high? It’s the movie/song that people have come to your store to buy.

Rant over

Note: I’m not affiliated with Amazon or CDWOW, nor endorsing their services, I just mentioned them as they were the cheapest I could find at the time.