iKnow. iQuit.

Youtube has coexisted with itunes for a long time now. Now more recently itunes and Youtube have started to become rivals. Youtube has always offered media such as videos and songs for free on its site, but with the exception of podcasts and some apps, iTunes has always charged money for their inventory.

In New New Media Levinson suggests, in his chapter about Youtube, that Youtube will eventually put itunes out of the business for selling songs. He states that while iTunes continues to charge for their songs Youtube offers them for free which will eventually become impossible to compete with. Levinson concludes that iTunes will eventually go out of business, but Apple will continue to say strong because of its iPhone and iPod’s ability to access Youtube.

I disagree with Levinson in the fact that Youtube will ever put iTunes out of business. To gather support for my point I look to an economic model. If a good’s price continues to fall there becomes a point where people will no longer produce that good. The music industry is a money based industry and if the people who make music no longer get paid to do what they do, there becomes a point where they will no longer make music. Now granted people who are passionate about making music will continue to do it, but the music industry will still for the most part disappear. We must pay people for the services that provide us whether we like it or not. People in the music industry know that they are losing ways to make money, but that isn’t going to make them quit their search more financial backing.