Universal refuses to renew music deal with Apple


Recommended Posts

Steven P. Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, is an emerging force in the mobile phone business, thanks to the snaking lines of gadget fans who queued up last week to buy the iPhone. But now he faces a headache in an industry Apple already dominates ? digital music.

The Universal Music Group of Vivendi, the world?s biggest music corporation, last week notified Apple that it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes, according to executives briefed on the issue who asked for anonymity because negotiations between the companies are confidential.

Instead, Universal said that it would market music to Apple at will, a move that could allow Universal to remove its songs from the iTunes service on short notice if the two sides do not agree on pricing or other terms in the future, these executives said.

Universal?s roster of artists includes stars like U2, Akon and Amy Winehouse.

source: NY Times

lol.. if universal were to pull out.. they would be losing a lot of money. Digital distribution is the future.. Oh well whatever

That's up for debate. Who needs who more? I think iTunes needs the array of Universal music artists more than Universal needs iTunes to sell music. This may be in response to Apple's refusal to introduce tiered pricing in which case Universal and other music labels will just find an online distributer who will bow to their demands.

People still buy all the crap that comes out? I haven't bought a CD for over 10 years... Nor do I bother to download pirated music either... It's all 99.9% rubbish these days.

Personally, I couldn't care less if all the music studios, iTunes, and most of the bands all went bankrupt. Maybe it'll poke them into producing decent music again; that's for entertainment, not profiteering from crap.

I wouldn't be surprised if Universal is partly doing this to manipulate the market. Bring out this news, cause stocks to fall...In come the private brokerages to buy out the reduced stock - and to the off-shore accounts!

Everyone! Put on your aluminum foil hats! Ma Bell is listening! :alien: FREE MASONS!!

Seriously, UMG's higher-up's already consider MP3 owner's as Yargy Music Pirates. This is hardly a surprise after they strong armed MS to pay that $1 Zune royalty...

I hope these struggles go in favor of the artists, whoever comes out on top.

Apple should just let them go month-to-month.

thats whats going happen if the prices go up :wacko:
being Canuck, I download all my music free, and RIAA can't do nottin' so I never "buy" music, and it's such a foreign concept to me *L*
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • App, useful & Teams shouldn't be used in the same sentence.
    • New Outlook for Windows and Web is getting a simple but very useful email feature by Sayan Sen Recently Microsoft put up a blog post highlighting not one, not two, but 15 total reasons why it feels you should switch to New Outlook already. If that was not enough, the company is bringing another new feature soon that could finally compel you to switch over to the new app. According to a recent update on the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the tech giant is making changes to how message sorting works when users choose criteria besides the traditional options of From, Subject, or Date Received. The idea is to provide better options for the attribute being used for sorting and make it easier to understand why messages appear in a particular order. For those unfamiliar Outlook already allows users to sort emails using a variety of fields including sender, category, importance, subject, and message size. Users can access these options through the Filter menu in Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web. With the upcoming change, whenever users sort by a field other than From, Subject, or Date Received, Outlook will automatically display an additional column showing the value being used for the sort. For example, if messages are sorted by Size, a Size column will appear in the message list, allowing users to immediately see the data that determines the ordering of emails. Microsoft believes this should make sorting behavior simpler and reduce the need to manually adjust views or inspect individual messages. Support for sorting by Flag Due Date is also coming and should be especially be helpful for users who rely on email flags to manage follow-up tasks and deadlines. The feature is listed under Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 564803 and is expected to reach general availability beginning later this month itself (June 2026). You can find the entry here. As always though, users should keep in mind that roadmap timelines can change and rollout schedules may occasionally be adjusted by Microsoft. Outlook for Web is also set to receive this feature.
    • That is true. but the liability side of my balance sheet is clean and has been for decades.  Nobody comes a knocking,  calling or writing harassing me for the money i owe them.😎👍  Haven't dealt with "a money changer" in decades and like Jesus it was in Jerusalem.  Don't have much money, but have even less stress in my life.👍👍     P.S.  Sorry, can't walk on water or change it to wine,  
    • Maybe ? DLSS Swapper (can swap the DLSS/FSR/XeSS versions) as long as the game (typically online/competitive) doesn't checks for file tampering. You can try different version(s) or update if not the current version of the FSR. https://github.com/beeradmoore/dlss-swapper
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Proficient
      Eric Biran went up a rank
      Proficient
    • Dedicated
      Conjor earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Week One Done
      Windows Guy earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      492
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      248
    3. 3
      Steven P.
      71
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      70
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!