When I do listen to music, its generally my own. I have a LOT of CDs ripped, and a certain amount of digital music which never had physical form, all of it in MP3 format. I have it on my iPod classic (where is my 120GB+ iPod touch?) and I have it on my Apple TV.

I love Pandora, but don’t listen much at work, and none of the devices I own support it. If it were offered on Tivo or Apple TV I would probably pay for it. Not more than $10 a month though, since I wouldn’t really use it that much. Yes I know I can stream it (with no control) via AirFoil, and I do this sometimes, but I’d rather have direct access. Not willing to buy/hook up another device to get this though.

How much is an album worth? Like others I probably prefer the variable pricing model. A lot of Albums I already own, and if you want to sell it to me again so I don’t have to go find the CD and rip it, I won’t pay more than a couple of dollars. For a new album from an artist I like, or that I have sampled multiple tracks online, I’m happy to pay $10, and maybe $12 sometimes. I’m not going back to paying $17 for an album ever again though. Sorry, no.

I really don’t want to have anymore physical media. CDs are a convenient way to buy music, but only because they are high quality and non-DRMed. There’s almost no reason to keep the CD once I rip it at this point. I’m starting to toss the Jewel cases and put the CDs in binders so they take up less space.

Dale–you must be smoking crack. Non-DRMed music that you can sell? Sorry, just give it up.

I’d pay for the on-line version but only if I could control via the iphone and stream throughout the house via airfoil/itunes. At least give me an iphone app where I can control system volume via airfoil.

If they take away the on-line version I’d be peeved and consider canceling and getting a refund. I would probably try to do the iphone/roadtrip thing in the car for longer trips. Not worth getting the iphone out of my pocket for my ten minute commute.

I’m a fan of itunes but looking at amazon more because of pricing. However, I did have some dowloading issues on amazon and never did get the latest Jack Johnson album I was due for $5.00.

I’d definitely consider rhapsody but only if could control via airfoil/iphone or if I took a hardware plunge on sonos.

I’m also a fan of Pandora and stream via airfoil throughout the house when I want to discover a new artist. I also utilize it on the iphone on the treadmill/jogs and also via iphones/logitech portable speaker, especially when on the road. I probably wouldn’t pay more than $1.99 month for it (without commercials) and would stop using if ads became more prominent.

I’ve always agreed with the record industry on variable pricing. I’m fine with up to $2.00 for a hit I REALLY want, but expect the back library tunes to be REALLY cheap, perhaps as low as 25 cents for really old stuff. So long as the content is DRM free prices should be set by supply and demand.

But a final switch needs to be made to make the market truly fair to consumers. There still needs to be a way that consumers can truly sell their purchased online content in the after-market, just like they can sell CD’s now, without, of course, retaining a copy of the original. That would require a universal registry of some sort where once Apple/Amazon etc. sell you a song/album, you are the registered owner. Then registered owners should be able to SELL their copy to anyone via eBay etc. It would be a simple system:

- login
- see the library of content you own
- pick the songs you are selling
- type in the universal ID of the person you have sold to

presto, the rights have moved. I’d be delighted if future media players enforced that model. That only valid purchasers (or transferees) can play content they purchased on devices they or their family own.

That would put downward pressure on the price of songs quickly. That’s TRUE supply and demand.

A fantasy, perhaps, but since we are talking about digital music supplied digtially via the Internet, it would be a pretty straight forward idea to implement from a technology perspective.

However, we do subscribe/donate to a local music-oriented public radio station out of the Univ of PA – wxpn. There’s a huge spectrum of programming on there, and lots of exclusive content (interviews, shows, guest DJs, etc; much of it archived online). They host tons of shows locally and regionally, and promote lots of underappriciated and under-marketed musicians. You can try it online – xpn.org – and their flagship show – The World Cafe – is broadcast by stations around the world. I guess if we’re going to spend money, I feel good about where it’s going when it goes to XPN.

Satellite radio has definitely lost its edge, and I don’t know what they can do to make their service more compelling.

One thing that jumps out at me about Sirius adding a fee for any and all online streaming is what about Netflix? Will Netflix add a fee for streaming?

My main struggle is car audio. Are you just using your iphone to stream music to your car? Seems like an awkward solution. I still use CDs most of the time when I am in my car.

I did just loved the service. Any type of music, anywhere I’m at. Driving from Portland to Seattle, or to Crater Lake, LA, Reno, Vegas while listening to one station (really between my favorite three XMU, Chill, The Rhyme). But post merger my stations now sound like local radio; the talking heads jumping in every two or three songs announcing the artist. WFT!! I can read the screen to know the artist/song. Stupid shows (ie Blog radio). And the channel identifications sound like I am listening to terrestrial radio. I miss the XM tone..

Any who… Once I cancel my XM I’m not sure what I’ll use for music. If at home I’ll just play what ever station that looks good via my Popcorn Hour. When mobile I’m not sure. Maybe buy an iPod Touch and feed it my collection. If via an Internet feed, my price point free of course but one of the main reasons why I subscribed to SatRad was no commercials. For me that was worth $10 a month alone…so anything less than $10 claims would be awesome.