People -- who do you think gets the "cut" end of the price cut in those comparisons? Me thinks it is NOT the record companies, methinks it be Amazon. TSO has said MANY times "we don't make much by selling stuff on iTunes". Which would seem to me that Amazon MAKES EVEN LESS -- not something I really care about but it makes perfect sense given Jeff Bezos 'success' in all things related to Amazon. A dozen years out the remains barely profitable, especially given its size:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com#History_and_business_model
Apple WINS when other companies margins are WORSE than its -- SJ knows this, lives this, will ALWAYS capitalize on it. Being from "the world biggest hamburger chain" doesn't make a Big Mac healthy, delicious or desirable. Having served BILLIONS & BILLIONS gives McDonalds Corp the POWER it needs to be a world player in food sales and marketing. It would take DECADES of missteps by McDonalds AND a huge (impossible?) CONSUMER shift toward baked potatoes & chili for Wendy's to 'displace' the Golden Arches...
Apple/ iTunes is already deeply cemented into the leadership position in online music, nothing (yet) can change that.
