Writing for BusinessWeek Online , Byte of the Apple columnist Charles Haddad talks about Why iTunes Has Bands On the Run in his latest missive.
Haddad is reacting to reader responses from an earlier column that notes that bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica haven’t yet signed on to Apple’s nascent iTunes Music Store because they want to sell whole albums, rather than singles. Haddad calls the response a “deluge of e-mail” that showed very little sympathy for artists who feel that selling singles dilutes their creative control.
“About a third of my mail called my critique wrong-headed, a disservice to the bands and popular music,” Haddad admitted. He goes on to point out that debates between artists and consumers are hardly new. “It’s a fight that dates back at least to Michelangelo, who insisted his famous statue of David wear not even a fig leaf, much to the horror of the Pope.”
Haddad called iTunes users “an unstoppable force” and suggests that Apple’s success with the iPod may lead to similar products for video and books in the future.
Haddad also discounts the suggestion of some that services like iTunes Music Store will lead to the downfall of the CD format. “Apple’s iTunes will no more kill CDs than vinyl killed radio … Downloadable music will climb to the apex of distribution, pushing down but not replacing the formats that have come before it.”