What the hell difference does it make to the music companies whether someone is downloading something over a fixed line or 3G connection? It makes no difference to them at all. It will make a difference to Telco's, but that is about it.

Maybe it's just the fact that they are blood sucking scum. I hope everyone makes more of an effort to pirate music and that they slowly die.

I think that it is basically that the record companies already charge higher prices for downloading songs over the mobile network (using other services than iTunes) and they simply want to keep the price range they have managed to set.

However I do agree that there should be no difference.

WHY??? because they realize this is THE NEW PLATFORM, they will use every oppourtunity to push their tiered screw the customer agenda about pricing. we pay 99 cents for a higher quality song with better listening dynamics with itunes and ipod. i just bought a ringtone for 3.99 I only listen to 10-15 seconds before i pick up, and it plays through my tinpan phone speaker. how much does the record companies get for that download?? they realize and so does SJ that the iphone will be the moble itunes and i hope he kicks the record labels a..s for the years of price oppression since the cd has come out. SJ has done what antitrust and legislation hasn't been able to do (yea libertarians)

i'm tired of paying for crap. also the carriers have the most piss poor way of getting a ringtone...errors, repeat downloads, they need SJ to kick their a..s so we the customer can get a better experience. after my last and ONLY paid ringtone (ac/dc--back in black), i won't do it till SJ and itunes with the iphone gets to my grubby hands. the only other ringtones i have downloaded were free, like God Bless America, and The Star Spangled Banner. i won't pay for crap anymore. $4.00 for low quality just so i can have a segment, if you priced it for the amount of time you "listen" the the ringtone junk quality it's more like 30-40 bucks ($3-4 per 15 seconds, now i bet thats what the record lables want, segment pricing)

free us from record label oppression--i just won't or let my family download ringtones, my wife has a program that can take any itunes song and cut a segment and send to her phone....got it at apple store. yea.

Is anyone surprised that the record labels want to charge more for over the air downloads for no particular reason? It's ridiculous how much they want for ring tones and ringback tones. They aren't even whole songs!!!

The money-grubbing record companies deserve to go under.

They didn't invent a thing. They do not provide ANY value for the customer (other than connection speed). They only are gatekeepers (very expensive ones that is). Music industry is just the same.

Everybody is jumping on the iPhone like a golden egg chicken. All this greed will make the phone fail in the long run.

It will become "just another mobile phone" full of "carrier specific crapware" (think about Vodafone live and similar services). No one will buy a song over UMTS (other than deep pocketed crazy adolescents).

Sorry if I'm being harsh, but I saw that one coming. Everyone wants to jump on the iPhone ship. There will be so many softwares soon (Orange, Voda or whatever-specific) available that the iPhones will no longer be compatible one another and they'll feel like different phones.

Apple should have opened up the platform like they seem to have, I only hope they will not sell it to carriers, content providers, ringtone makers... If they do this means the end of it (in the long run) because it takes away the "appleness" of the product.

The major struggle here is that carriers have long tried (at crazy prices (for music and stupid screen photos)) to establish themselves as content providers, rather than simple carriers, in order to increase revenue streams.
Apple has a long history (for modern tech) of content providing and was able to "do it all by themselves" (Nokia is trying like crazy to sell content as well, SonyEricsson much the same). The money is in the content, not in the phone nor in the "connection fees".

The clash is all there. Who delievers content for the iPhone? Carriers or Apple? Which does which (ringtones, screensavers, music, whatever)?

With a data flat rate subscription the carrier only makes that much money. If all the content is purchased through Apple, then they will LOSE a lot of money compared to other handsets in which they have their own "store" for music. Apple, by selling the very same content cheaper (at iTunes standard prices) will eat away market share and revenues like crazy.

The big clash about who will control (and deliever) content for mobile phones has just begun.
I fear that if Apple is too "open and relaxed" carriers will win this one.
Prices? (exchange rate 19 may 2008: 1 CHF = 0.95 USD)
SONGS
Orange Switzerland and Swisscom: 1 song = 2.40 USD
iTunes Store Switzerland: 1 song = 1.44 USD
Dofference: one full USD more for every song....

RINGTONES
Orange Switzerland and Swisscom: 1 ringtone = 3.8 USD
iTunes: (not available, but my guess is the same as US, i.e. same price as a full song)
1 tone = 1.44 USD
Difference: 2.4 USD each ringtone


(not counting data fees for the download, depending on the subscription).

This example is interesting as both carriers will bring the iPhone in Switzerland.

That is the main problem. And as soon as Apple starts having significant market share in some markets, then there will be big problems. Other manufacturers will start selling songs on their own. We will have Nokia store, Apple store, Orange store, Vodafone store, Samsung store....
All with non compatible DRM.

I am not looking forward to that.... Not a bit.

Null.

I don't see why the music business wants more money for over the air downloads either. I can see why they might cost a little bit more money because the carriers might want to make a little bit of money. After all they provide most of us with unlimited iPhone data plans but data does cost money for them to transmit. So with this pushing up data use, they might want to make a little bit per sale to cover that and keep them sweet so to speak.

I'm from the UK but I'll take a dollar guess. Say an over the air download should be say 10 cents more at the most. I think they'd be able to get sales at that price of people who aren't near a WiFi spot and really want a song now. Anymore and people will just wait until they get back to their computers and it'll be pointless.

It would be a big feature for the iPod crowd. A music player that you can purchase songs at no matter where you are.