Universal Threatens To Take Its Music And Go Home
from the my-tunes dept
While Apple basks in the glow of a successful product launch, the company may have a fresh fire to put out. According to reports, record label Universal has decided not to renew its contract with the company that allows its songs to be sold on iTunes. The label's music may still remain on iTunes after the current contract expires, but Universal will have the right to withdraw it at any time. There's a good chance that Universal is simply posturing here, as it would be hurting itself significantly if it stopped selling on iTunes, which has become the third largest music retailer in the country. That being said, tension between the labels and Apple has been brewing for quite some time, as many labels have been unhappy with Apple's stance on song pricing. Of course, the labels have only themselves to blame for getting into this mess. Their insistence on selling DRM'd tracks is what has allowed Apple to establish and keep its dominance in online music, which in turn gives it the upper hand in these negotiations. If Universal really wanted to stick it to Apple, it wouldn't withdraw its music, but it would find another outlet to sell unprotected MP3s that can play on consumers' iPods. More than anything else, that would force Apple to respond to its demands.
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Petulant Children...
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Re: Petulant Children...
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Re: Re: Petulant Children...
Remember, *EVERYTHING* in the ITMS is already available *FOR FREE* elsewhere on the internet. If they want my business, they'll need to adopt an AllOfMp3-type model, where I get to set the format and bitrate, and no DRM.
That works out to about $0.25 per track. Until then...well, there are torrents of other folks who feel the same way I do.
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leverage
What kind of leverage could Universal possibly have to get Apple to change its stance on song prices? None. They have no leverage, and without this magic opinion-swaying implement of economic influence, Universal can't make Apple change its pricing scheme by withdrawing UMG music. People will still go to iTunes to buy music, and Universal will simply cut itself out the most major portion of the digital marketplace.
Avoiding the digital marketplace - that sounds a lot like what the music industry has been trying to do for years.
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one wonders...
2. Of course, doing this might get the bands irate, then Universal would have a real situation. It would be interesting to see which Universal acts are the top acts on iTunes--and who climbs up the charts as a result of their being pulled.
3. Who is more petulant: Universal or the British record stores complaining about the Prince giveaway?
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Re: one wonders...
North America: Akon, Erykah Badu, Beck, Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, blink-182, Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, D-12, Daddy Yankee, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Melissa Etheridge, Eve, Fall Out Boy, 50 Cent, The Game, G-Unit, Vince Gill, Godsmack, Hoobastank, India.Arie, Jack Johnson, Jay-Z, The Killers, Diana Krall, Ludacris, Reba McEntire, Nelly, No Doubt, Puddle of Mudd, Pusscat Dolls, Ashlee Simpson, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, George Strait, Sugarland, Shania Twain, Stevie Wonder, Sting, 3 Doors Down, Weezer, and Kanye West.
Europe: Bryan Adams, A-Ha, Daniel Bedingfield, Marco Borsato, Calogero, The Cardigans, Sergio Dalma, Ms. Dynamite, ERA, Mylene Farmer, Gabrielle, Girls Aloud, The Hives, Elton John, Jovanotti, Juli, Kaiser Chiefs, Keane, Ronan Keating, Michael McDonald, McFly, Metallica (outside North America), Noir Désir, Florent Pagny, Paco de Lucia, Rammstein, Rosana, Rosenstolz, the Rasmus, Safri Duo, Michel Sardou, Scissor Sisters, Snow Patrol, Sugababes, Tamara, t.A.T.u, Texas, U2, Paul van Dyk, and Zucchero.
Latin America: Babasonicos, Bersuit, David Bisbal, Café Tacuba, Christian Castro, Don Omar, Pedro Fernandez, Luis Fonsi, Enrique Iglesias, Juanes, Luney Tunes, Molotov, Zeca Pagodinho, Paulina Rubio, Sandy & Junior, Ivete Sangalo, Caetano Veloso, Alicia Villarreal, and Wisin y Yandel.
Asia Pacific: AI, Chage & Aska, Eason Chan, Jacky Cheung, Kelly Chen, Dreams Come True, Energy, Bernard Fanning, Masaharu Fukuyama, Evonne Hsu, Dao Lang, Hacken Lee, Naotaro Moriyama, Wilbur Pang, Powderfinger, Rain, Kou Shibasaki, Spitz, Alan Tam, Utada, WaT, Wolfmother, and Masayoshi Yamazaki.
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Typo...
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Makes me wonder
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Good Riddance - don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I agree too - I couldn't tell you even ONE band offhand that records with them. I'm sure *many* do - but do I pay attention which recording company markets the record? Ummm, no.
Can you tell me which paper company makes your drink cup at a restaurant? Umm, doubtful - unless you work in my industry.
Does it even matter??? lol, no - of course not.
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bands
How about the biggest iPod sell-out promoter ever: U2.
And the worst of the revived '80s bands that used to be great: Bon Jovi
I think they've both had a few record sales in the last few years.
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Re: bands
Popular (selling lots of records) != good.
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Who Moved Universal's Cheese?
Yes, your cheese has been moved. The music buyers moved it when they decided to start paying .99 cents a song from Itunes. Yippee! Now, when 14 out of 15 songs on a $20 music CD suck, consumers have opted to pay 99 cents to Itunes so they can buy the one song they really want to hear.
I pay for my music, and I'll never go into a retail store and pay full price, ever again. If I want the whole CD, I'll buy it second-hand from Amazon or Ebay, if it's cheaper than buying all the songs from Itunes. And if you manage to strong-arm Apple into charging higher prices for their music, then I'll just stand in line with message writer #1, and I'll download the fucking music off a pirate website.
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If I were Apple...
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future
but if i cant get their music, i could just find something else i like for $.99. and when the major artists start looking around for their next label because they've heard the stories...im sure they will find someone else to do the job.
the flip side is if umg does manage to do something better for their artists...but, as is well known, the music industry doesnt really have the kind of reputation you would expect fresh ideas from.
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Why would aple care
Apple will be hurt if Universal stops providing the songs online at all or provides it through a non-apple compatible DRM but Universal will be hurt more from that. So the only option Universal has is to stop digital downloads of its songs or provide them through another DRM scheme (Zune etc.) not playable on ipods.
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Sadly, the fact is...
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never pay
there is no reason u can give me to prove, convince, or tell me that im right, that anything should be paid for which is web/computer based.
ALL web based firms should (ie those that have a website) should have by know understood the concept of GOOGLE...ie free for all....but still one of the riches countries in the world....
anyway....i have over 700 GB of music...i doubt ill ever listen to even a 10th of it...but the fact that i have it makes me feel good....plus i know if anyone ever comes over i will have whatever they want to listen to....
one last point why i would never pay for music.....
if u think 50 cent...eminiem....snoop, shakira, will smith...or who ever else who makes music, videos or whatever deserves all the money they get....then ur an idito...
when 2 billion people earn less then 1 dollar a day and those guys have 20 cars which they cant decide whicht o pick or use.....
f*ck so many thoughts through my head about how much i disagree with paying.....that ah frustration
hope no one pays again
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Re: never pay
I'm all for buying programs and games, the people that code them spend hundreds of hours sitting in front of a computer writing the thing so you can either make your stick figure pictures(because that's all a simpleton like you could draw) or have hours of entertainment playing My little pony happy fun land.
There's nothing wrong with supporting companies that take care of the people working for them, you know everyone outside of the record industry. I don't go to many movies because 95% of the movies suck and aren't worth the money. And I only buy CDs of bands I know are on independent labels so they will get a decent chunk of the sales.
I'd prefer less copy protection on the games I buy but with the companies that make the protection telling the game companies that it is working it won't go away.
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iTMS is peanuts
So the iTunes Music Store is the third-largest music retailer in the US. Big deal. Worldwide, legit music downloads are still peanuts compared to, say, the ringtone business. It's been previously reported that the average iPod owner only buys maybe a couple of dozen tracks from iTMS--the vast majority of music on their iPod comes from other sources.
So Universal pulls out of iTMS. This is more symbolic than anything else: Apple doesn't lose much (it doesn't make much on iTMS sales), and maybe Universal loses a bit of profit from that source. So Universal loses more than Apple does, but overall it's still small potatoes. Why should there be much of an impact on anything?
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What options??
To even have a chance of making it work UMG and the other record companies would have to pull out of iTunes go to the new more expensive service and hope the customers follow. Chances of the customers following are pretty low. I wonder what Apple would be like to negotiate with if UMG decided to go back to iTunes after the new service fails.
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when will they learn
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60606
www.mp4-converter.net/apple-tv-converter/
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