Universal itunes Dispute Spotlights Better Ways To Sell Online Music

I just read a really great article on Information Week's blog. So the question is, are all albums created equal???



Universal iTunes Dispute Spotlights Better Ways To Sell Online Music

Posted by Alexander Wolfe, Jul 2, 2007 08:46 PM


It's shaping up as a good news, bad news kind of week for Steve Jobs. On the plus side, he's launched the popular modestly-featured smartphone ever. (I can't say I was surprised that the iPhone we were ogling at my office today feels heavier than my trusty Blackberry.) In contrast, it couldn't have come as good news that the world's biggest record company, which has been selling its songs through the only online music store that matters, finally told Jobs to take the metaphorical gun away from its head.

The decision by Vivendi's Universal Music Group, which told Apple it won't renew its annual contract with iTunes and could begin selling at least some of its songs elsewhere, represent a huge financial risk. According to The New York Times, Universal pulls in more than $200 million annually through iTunes.

Which begs the question: Why would Universal snub Steve Jobs, when it could end up doing very serious damage to its own immediate bottom line?

The answer, clearly, is that Universal has read the writing on the wall, and it doesn't look good. Many of the news stories on the Universal-Apple fracas speculate that Universal is annoyed at Apple's enforcement of its one-price-fits-all, 99-cents for every song, policy. (Shouldn't it be 50 cents for the songs of a certain rap artist?)

This doesn't stick in just Universal's craw. The Times' story reprised a recent quote from Warner Music chairman Edgar Bronfman, who said: "We believe that not every song, not every artist, not every album, is created equal."


Read the whole article here: http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/07/universal_itune.html