Corporate "Artists" Spurn iTunes Store
Reuters reports that the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica are among the list of bands that have refused to offer music to users of Apple's iTunes Music Store. A spokesman for the company that manages the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and other acts said that his clients "would rather not contribute to the demise of the album format." [MacCentral]
But the demise of the album format is exactly what a lot of people, myself included, love about the iTunes store. Much easier and consumer-friendly to be able to buy the one song that I like than to have to buy a whole album containing filler. I recently bought a George Thorogood album at the iTunes store, mainly to get one song that was only available by buying the album. I ended up with maybe 3 good songs out of 10. A waste.
Apple's own sales figures indicate that something like 40% of sales are albums anyway, so it's a little early to be sounding the death knell for the album just yet. Regardless, what's good about the ability to buy singles is better customer choice, which is always a good thing.