Follow MacBlips on Twitter
Music cartels’ relationship with Apple remains as tense and antagonistic as ever
MacDailyNews —
... as another display of his tough bargaining tactics, made possible by Apple’s position as the dominant seller of music." "Mr. Schmidt-Holtz, wanted the pricing to go into effect right after the announcement, while Mr. Jobs wanted a longer time horizon. According to a person briefed on the telephone call, Mr. Schmidt-Holtz and Mr. Jobs had a heated exchange by phone on Christmas Eve. Eventually, Sony gave in and agreed to a longer waiting period," Arango reports. Full article here . MacDailyNews Take: The greedy music cartel bastages who collectively had no idea how to run ...
QOTD
Digital Daily —
QOTD
They believe they created MTV, and will say they revived Apple.
– Dave Goldberg, former general manager of Yahoo Music, on music industry hubris ...
Apple is a tough negotiator in the music industry
9 to 5 Mac - Apple Intelligence —
... According to the New York Times, Apple, led of course by Steve Jobs, is now pushing its weight around in negotiations with the record labels. They admittedly are a bit afraid of Apple ...
NYT: Music execs operate 'in fear of Apple'
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) —
... In today's New York Times, Tim Arango tells a story of a heated conversation between Sony Music's Rolf Schmidt-Holtz and Steve Jobs on Christmas Eve -- one that "ricocheted around the music industry." ...
Record labels still wary of Apple's wrath
Macworld —
... that the record labels would finally give up DRM, while Apple would allow them the flexible pricing they so greatly desired. But according to a music industry executive who spoke to The New York Times , the situation is still as tense as ever, with Apple's dominating presence in the music market giving it a disproportionate amount of leverage over the labels—and the company isn't afraid to use it, either. A number of high-level music execs, speaking anonymously, have claimed that they've operated in fear of Apple's removing a label's songs from the iTunes store over a ...
Record labels still wary of Apple's wrath
MacUser —
... that the record labels would finally give up DRM, while Apple would allow them the flexible pricing they so greatly desired. But according to a music industry executive who spoke to The New York Times , the situation is still as tense as ever, with Apple's dominating presence in the music market giving it a disproportionate amount of leverage over the labels—and the company isn't afraid to use it, either. A number of high-level music execs, speaking anonymously, have claimed that they've operated in fear of Apple's removing a label's songs from the iTunes store over a ...
Music industry still not thrilled with iTunes control
Infinite Loop —
... Despite what seemed like a happy arrangement between Apple and record labels over iTunes pricing and DRM, "the relationship remains as tense and antagonistic as ever" according to a report from the New York Times. ...
Steve Jobs Bullied Record Execs Into iTunes Deal on Christmas Eve [ITunes]
Gizmodo —
While Steve Jobs wasn't personally at Macworld to reveal that iTunes was going DRM-free and OTA downloadable, he's the one who made it happen—he bullied Sony Music's chairman over the phone on Christmas Eve. The New York Times' account of the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to iTunes going totally DRM-free, getting downloads over 3G and variable pricing is fascinating for several reasons. One, it reveals that while Jobs said he was taking the holidays off to spend time with his family instead of preparing for Macworld, ...
Daily Apple: Blow Phone, Pro Processors, & Video Talk
TheAppleBlog —
... Music Industry Cowers Before iTunes’ Might - The New York Times has an interesting article about how tense relations are between Apple and the big players in the music industry, owing to Apple’s strongarm bargaining tactics and the industry’s fear of courting their disfavor. ...
Music Execs Fear Apple’s Power
iPodObserver —
Music executives fear the power that Apple has garnered as the biggest game in music sales in the U.S., according to the New York Times . The industry apparently lives in perpetual fear that apple might pull their music off of the iTunes Store, and most didn't want to give their names to the Times's reporter for "fear of angering Apple." Music executives also confirmed that dropping DRM was demanded by Apple in exchange for the variable pricing on music downloads that Apple ...
