“Universal Music Group Chief Executive Doug Morris said on Tuesday he may try to fashion an iPod royalty fee with Apple Computer Inc. in the next round of negotiations in early 2007,” Reuters reports.
“Universal… was the first major record label to strike an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to receive a fee for every Zune digital media player sold,” Reuters reports.
“‘It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too far. I don’t see why we wouldn’t do that… but maybe not in the same way,’ he told the Reuters Media Summit,” Reuters reports.
Full article here.
Morris can seek, but he shall not find. Maybe by the end of 2007, the leech will be able to buy a sandwich with all of his accumulated Zune royalties. Steve Jobs holds cards that Microsoft can only dream of holding.
As we wrote on November 9: We’ve been saying for quite awhile that Microsoft seems to want the Zune to fail; the choice brown, the muddled business plan, the crippled Wi-Fi, the hobbled DRM-laden “sharing”, the weak advertising, the fake scroll-wheel, the “uncoolness” of Microsoft, the lack of a compelling price advantage, the lack of video content, etc. But, we couldn’t figure out why Microsoft seems to want the Zune to fail. We thought maybe they needed a tax write-off or they were just mismanaged and/or deluded. But, maybe their “plan” is to set a precedent for the next round of iTunes Store negotiations? Perhaps Microsoft hopes to hurt Apple by trying to force this weird profit sharing on iPods? To share hardware profits with the music labels makes no sense. Did phonograph makers share record player profits with music labels? No. Did Sony share Walkman profits with music labels? No. Do AM/FM radio makers share profits with music labels? No. Do TV makers share profits with TV networks and producers? No.
As we wrote on November 10: As far as Universal demanding the same ludicrous royalty scheme from Apple Computer Inc. to which Microsoft capitulated with Zune: Universal needs Apple a helluva lot more than Apple needs Universal. If Universal doesn’t want to sell music to what will then be in excess of 100 million iPods sold via what will then be a U.S. top five music outlet, Apple’s iTunes Store, then Universal can go pound sand. If Universal makes such a bad decision, they’ll be crawling back to Steve Jobs on their hands and knees within weeks begging for forgiveness. If they want to play hardball with Steve Jobs based on a deal they made with the sleazebag Redmond Zunatics, they should understand that a Jobs fastball thrown straight to the head will sideline them not just from that game, but from many games to come.
Contact Universal Music Group: communications@umusic.com
Related articles:
Microsoft’s Zune selling like snotcakes – November 15, 2006
Universal Music Group CEO calls iPod users thieves – November 11, 2006
Following Zune deal, Universal expected to demand iPod royalties from Apple – November 10, 2006
Microsoft to pay Universal for every Zune sold – November 09, 2006