iTunes 8 needs subscriptions and rentals

In light of Adam L. Penenberg 's recent article for Fast Company I can't help but think that iTunes is starting to stagnate. Other than adding movies a while back, iTunes hasn't really changed much. In order for Apple to head the rebels off at the pass they need to add some new features to iTunes:

Add subscription music. Although Steve likes to own his music, frankly he can afford to. Many of his customers are eight to fourteen year olds that can barely pay for the iPod itself, let alone cough up 99 cents a track. Could an argument be made that large, empty iPods incent kids to steal music? Create a Rhapsody and Yahoo Music-killer that's cheaper and better and be done with it.

Add video rentals. Although I'm not a fan of huge downloads, movie downloads could easily be managed with BitTorrent technology. The market seems to be ripe for video rentals and the mega-popular iPod nano will help move lots of movies. While they're at it, add movie subscriptions and give Apple TV and Mac home theater users a reason to cancel our Netflix subscriptions.

Open it up. Apple should consider opening up iTunes DRM so that purchases will work on any device. Look at the plethora of cheap media players on the market. Not everyone can afford a premium-priced iPod and some people want features that Apple refuses to offer. Why not capture some of this audience with their best-of-breed iTunes software? Sell or rent them music and movies and don't look back.

Granted, the last one's a long shot, but there's no reason why Apple couldn't add music subscriptions and video rentals to iTunes 8 and release it at Macworld Expo in January.