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June 21, 2003
iPod business plan
Another throwaway business plan: a super-premium service that takes all your CDs, rips them, and puts them on your computer format of choice (iPod, hard disk, DVD).
I've got 7.2 days worth of music in iTunes now, and I haven't really made a dent on my music collection. But this service wouldn't be aimed at me. It would be for those that are time-poor/wouldn't know an MP3 from a doorhandle.
So, you pick up the CDs, rip them, add any info that CDDB doesn't have, and then copy the files over to the iPod (or supply the iPod for them). Charge 5 pounds a CD - this sounds a lot, but it's not aimed at the poor people that would read my weblog ;)
Super-super-premium services could include ripping vinyl, and adding other music similar to their collection that they might like. You could even tie it into a monthly music subscription (in which they're really just buying CDs).
You could probably do a no-frills service for the rest of us - say 2 pounds a CD - using downtime/nights, no checking...
I'm sure there's a market for this, I'm even tempted to set it up myself. The trick is to make it a luxury service, and not get caught in a price war with the inevitable competitors. And whilst it seems like it would be a limited market, by the time you've done it for everyone that might want it, portable video players will be here, and you diversify into videos, DVDs, and even photos. Media conversion is always sold as a b-to-b (hilariously expensive) service, but people now hoard extremely large amounts of media that they don't know what to do with.
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