“Music labels are dragging their feet in licensing their songs to Apple Computer because they fear its long-promised European music download site will dominate the online business, industry insiders say,” Charles Arthur reports for The Independent.
“The five main record labels are understood to be scared that Apple, which makes the iPod digital music player, will become as successful in Europe as it has in the US, where it has 70 per cent of the legal download business. That could let it dictate which stars or records succeed or fail by deciding which to promote on its site,” Arthur reports.
Full article here.
Give me a break…
I was talking about the music labels of course..
At this point, all current online,usic stores can open a European version at the same time. Let them all go and may the best service (iTunes) win! Not to mention how hot the iPods are right now. If they wait till summer, Apple will take an even bigger lead in europe because they will be able to release the mini there at the same time, which withcause a huge influx of iPod+iTunes customers, I dont see the DellDj having the same impact.
Umm, why exactly is it a bad thing for iTMS to dominate the market? If they license their songs to Apple, and Apple dominates, then doesn’t that just mean more sales?
“Umm, why exactly is it a bad thing for iTMS to dominate the market? If they license their songs to Apple, and Apple dominates, then doesn’t that just mean more sales?”
It means someone other than the labels gets to choose what’s hot and what’s not. MTV is the only one in that position right now, and the labels can’t stand them as it is. That’s also why they don’t like downloading by song…it lets the listener choose what’s good and what’s bad instead of being subjected to 11 goods songs on a $15 album they bought for the 1 good song. It means the labels will actually have to work for their money.
Face it. Apple is an American company and we are not liked very much right now. The EU goes after Microsoft then drags their feet on Apple. If a European company could offer some competition, they’d jump on it.
I’m in no way defending MS. I can’t stand their bully business model. As for Apple, they just have the best music store and music player in the world. No bullying necessary.
I have to agree with Plush. Record labels hate MTV, MTV gives far too much control for choosing what is hot or not to the viewers. Sure MTV pushes popular music, but many acts that labels were pushing have failed. Look at O-Town or 98 degrees. iTunes gives more choice to the listeners. Despite grips about the lack of Techno or Indie music, more users are exposed to Indie music through iTunes, and let’s face it on any given day you can find Folk Music, Jazz or World Music, and Independent Artist in the top 100 on iTunes. I bet it’s scary for them that Independent artist get the same level of promotion as the Big 5 Artist. They’d far per something that they could control.
This also harkens back to the DRM changes in the new iTunes 4.5. I think most people were happy to get 5 computers, and willing to lose 3 burns, but you can bet the Big 5 pushed for this, as part of their renewal contracts. Remember Apple only had a year contract with labels, a contract set to renew within weeks of/before the one year anniversity of iTMS. I’m certain Jobs and crew were negotiate hell trying to keep the terms as close to as is now, and still make things palatable for users.
DRM is all about control, and not Apple’s control but the Big 5 control. Most of the Independent labels could probablly care less if the files were protect.
this is utter BS.. as it is.. online music is about what.. 0.5% of retail sales and 0.01% of stolen music on kazaa et al.?
what a worthless argument.. as it is.. the domination of p2p music isn’t helping the labels much is it..?
so will they let napster in for a few weeks before apple gets in”
British journalism is a joke. Why should the Independent be any differnt? By comparison, US journalism is a gray old lady.
Attention All European Music Labels: I just got a credit card in readiness to use it at the European iTMS. Come on let me spend my money!
As the labels delay iTMS for Europe, the more and more Europeans are buying from the 6.8� a MB (any bitrate any format) Russian site using their Paypal accounts.
I can only imagine how many songs they are selling and the labels and the artists are not getting one penny.
Stupid idiots.
Clark Kent. I don’t understand what you mean by ‘grey old lady’. Can you explain please ?
British journalism is not (all) a joke and The Independent is among the elite newspapers. Charles Arthur is as pro-mac as it’s possible to be while remaining balanced, and although this article is largely speculation, that’s largely what his column is about.
So what at last apple will have a word. At least we will know that only the best is on iTunes the rest of the trash can go to microsoft or sony.
the other thing is that, if microsoft gets there hands on leadership in music donload, you think they will not do anything llike that, infact as we can see now, they will be getting things through monopoly just like they do with windows for now.
egarc wrote: “Face it. Apple is an American company and we are not liked very much right now. The EU goes after Microsoft then drags their feet on Apple. If a European company could offer some competition, they’d jump on it.”
Don’t worry, Europe can differentiate between politics and business (although they’re often intertwined…). And you might have overlooked the fact, that the actors in question are not the european states (i.e. the EU), but international music labels (American, Japanese and European to be precisely), who instrumentalize their european divisions.
face it europe is shit with all of the fucked up laws, just like blayer, my cats ass makes more sence then he does, and then there is his bitch wife. dont think that europe will be any good inteal those dickheads are trying to rule it.
It means someone other than the labels gets to choose what’s hot and what’s not.
Yeah. The Listeners. How sad that it has come down to this. If it were possible to kick the Record Labels in the backside and get them to relent so the iTMS could open finally, I’d love to help. It’s time our Music Loving friends across the pond got in on the fun.
Artiom: get a grip and an education in English before trying to converse.
Clark Kent: I just want to second the posting by Hywel. The Indie is an innovative paper staffed by real journalists who wish to encourage their readers to think. An example of their innovation is that, in London at least, they print a tabloid version of their standard broadsheet so you can read the damn thing on a train – quickly copied by The (London) Times.
On this subject, I simply repeat my statement of yesterday: only in the crazed, South American horticultural by-product fuelled world of the music industry could it be considered sensible to delay the launch of a (dare I say, THE) successful integrated music solution, preferring instead to encourage piracy and issue lawsuits.
Even the justification is nonsense: Apple wants/needs massive musical diversity to fuel the take up of iTunes and iPod. It simply would not be interested in playing favourites with artists or labels. This is contrary to MTV, where they need to favour ‘hot’ looking bands with eye-catching videos to encourage viewers to stay tuned in for advertising.
artiom, LOL, especially the bit about Tony and Cherie
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Personally I never read The Independent. It tries too hard to be objective, which makes the articles quite dull. I’d much rather read The Telegraph and The Guardian to see two different aspects of the same story.
I can sort of believe that the record companies are doing this. For a good decade now, they’ve been able to dictate which artists are going to be listened to (mostly pap, with one proper band a year to keep the grown-ups happy), and they’re worried they might actually have to go out and find some real talent if the public get choice in the matter.
from DakRoland:Artiom: get a grip and an education in English before trying to converse.
Ill give you a deal I will type proper english if you learn russian within 5 years. deal? sounds good to me, plus in england in my school a bit every one in the english subjects, so i belive im not the one who needs to learn english.
lets see you in 5 years with your russian knowledge, good luck lol
From what I hear about how the Big Labels do business (and screw over artists), I think it would probably be good to have Apple have some power to counteract them.
If this is true it just goes to show there is no such thing as a free market in Music – its a stich up between the record labels and nobody else is allowed a look in. I will continue to get my music from Kazaa thank you very much.
artiom, I know punctuation is hard, try to stay with me: you are an e-m-b-a-r-r-a-s-m-e-n-t. Can you pronounce that? Good! Now wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth. Good boy! You get a cookie!
Solid: In case you didn’t catch on, English isn’t Artiom’s first language. Like he said, you learn Russian as well as he knows English, THEN you can talk…