To subscribe or not,that is the Itunes Question

With rumors abounding that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will turn the iTunes store into a subscription format, I'm wondering how much more the consumer will be forced to pay because the record labels will not acquiesce to the demands of the market. Forgive me if I sound resentful, because I am. In my opinion, Apple's iTunes makes the interface and purchase of digital music far easier than other services and while switching to a subscription service does not alter the interface or how you can listen, it drastically alters the ownership.

The record labels own the music, or at least the copyright and broadcast aspects of it. But if you buy a CD or an album, do you also own that music in some way? I would say that you do, but unfortunately that ownership comes with restrictions and guidelines that you, the consumer, must follow. Otherwise, the industry may come down on you with the force of a mighty storm. Consider how large the FBI warnings against copyright infringement are on CDs these days; not only the jewel case and digipak (cardboard) packaging but the actual CD.

Since I learned that iTunes may become a digital service, my outlook on whether to buy digital or physical formats has changed. Before the end of May there are about four new albums that I care to purchase (that's actually a low number for me if you are shocked by this value). When I knew they were going to be released, it was no question in my mind that I was going to buy the CD. That has changed now. I find myself pre-ordering on the iTunes store for the first time in the less than two years I have been a customer there. Fortunately, iTunes is nice about bonus and pre-order only tracks, so I can buy the albums at a lower cost for more music than if I went and purchased a CD.

However, I can see the benefits that a subscription service on iTunes would offer. The major benefit is the cost of the music and its reduction for the consumer. That may sound like an enticing offer, but it negates the ownership that I mentioned earlier. A subscription service acts as little more than a leasing agreement, where the consumer rents the tracks or albums they want to hear and must return them if they decide to end their subscription. For the consumer that has no issues about this matter, the deal is rather nice. But for the consumer who likes the aspect of purchasing the album (like me, for instance), the prospect of losing that edge in a digital world is unwanted.

The option to purchase a CD will theoretically always be present, but as the industry drifts more toward the digital market, those bonus and pre-order only tracks will make purchasing a CD pointless, unless similar measures are added to the discs. That ownership dilemma fuels this debate for me, because my CDs are my CDs. They may rightfully be the record labels or the artists, but I'd like to see them try and take an album like Revolver by The Beatles away from me just because they say it is theirs. Of course, the prospect of iTunes going digital at a time when The Beatles may become available for download scares me more than anything, because I want both the digital and physical formats that will hopefully be released.

If iTunes does go digital, I will likely follow. If the pre-ordering has shown me anything, it is that sometimes iTunes offers so much more than the CD on the shelf of a local retail store. It also makes my record collection less cluttered and I can hide the music that I like which may not be as "reputable" in the eyes of the "cool" people around me.