Amazon Talking To Apple About Offering iTunes
from the if-you-can't-beat-'em dept
In the week or so after Apple launched their iTunes music downloading service, everyone started scouting around for who would be the next company to offer a similar downloading service. Most of the analysts picked Amazon as the obvious choice, and they admitted (of course) that they're always thinking about such things. The NYPost is now reporting that, instead of designing their own such service, Amazon has had high level talks with Apple to offer iTunes via Amazon. The article suggests that this deal makes sense for both sides - though, I'm not so sure. While it might make sense for Apple, I would think that Amazon would be better off going this route alone. Working with Apple would save them the effort of having to duplicate the licensing efforts with the various music labels - but Amazon really likes to control the user interface (and they do a pretty good job of it). Leaving that experience open to someone else doesn't seem right - even if Apple is obsessive about user interface as well. Also, it raises questions about how Amazon would integrate the service into the rest of their store. Amazon would want to clearly link the downloadable offerings to the CD sales pages as well - something that's easier if you run the service yourself. There are ways around these issues, but Amazon's approach recently has been to rely on their own technology, and I'm not sure why they would want to stray from that plan at this point.
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I was wondering...
Granted I have made some significant use the iTunes Music Store but not done a great deal of true exploration of the thing. I should offer a disclaimer that I really think it's the best thing since sliced bread and only wish there were more songs available.
Which leads to what I was wondering: one elemnt that is very much missing from the iTunes Music Store is the CRM element that almost completely defines the Amazon experience. I keep waiting for iTunes to show me specific items on the main page based on my previous purchases, or e-mails based on new releases from artists whose works I have already purchased. As obsessive as Apple are about user interfaces, they might do very well to team up with Amazon on this one.
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