- Jan 7, 2002
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Two and a half years after the music business lined up behind the chief executive of Apple, Steve Jobs, and hailed him and his iTunes music service for breathing life into music sales, the industry's allegiance to Jobs has eroded sharply.
Jobs is now girding for a showdown with at least two of the four major record companies over the price of songs on the iTunes service.
If he loses, the one-price-fits-all model of 99 cents a song that iTunes has adopted could be replaced with a more complex structure that prices songs by popularity. A hot new single, for example, could sell for a $1.49, while a golden oldie could go for substantially less than 99 cents.
Music executives who support Jobs say the higher prices could backfire, sending iTunes' customers in search of songs on free, unauthorized file-swapping networks.
Signs of conflict over pricing issues are increasingly apparent. This month, Apple started its iTunes service in Japan without songs from the two major companies -- Sony BMG Music Entertainment or Warner Music Group -- leaving artists like Avril Lavigne, Beyonce and Rob Thomas out of the catalog because the companies refused to license their music to iTunes, said executives involved in the talks.
That gap in the Japanese music market, the world's second-biggest, is considered a harbinger of what may await American consumers as the contracts that record companies have with Apple in the United States come up for renewal early next year.
Jobs in the past has cast himself as a David-sized innovator battling established media Goliaths like Disney and Microsoft. But these days, allies and adversaries both agree, he is an 800-pound gorilla, with more clout online than even Wal-Mart has in the brick and mortar world.
Apple commands an estimated 75 percent of digital music sales, and roughly 80 percent of sales of MP3 players, with its market-leading iPod. While many still admire Jobs' seeming Midas touch -- iTunes quickly established a market for paid downloads after the industry wasted years on misfires -- he also inspires enmity or jealousy from others in the industry, which is back in a slump after a modest rebound last year.
Jobs' vision of simple, uniform pricing for songs, and a policy of limiting Apple's music to Apple's devices, are increasingly under attack. http://www.detnews.com/2005/technology/0508/27/tech-294943.htm
Jobs is now girding for a showdown with at least two of the four major record companies over the price of songs on the iTunes service.
If he loses, the one-price-fits-all model of 99 cents a song that iTunes has adopted could be replaced with a more complex structure that prices songs by popularity. A hot new single, for example, could sell for a $1.49, while a golden oldie could go for substantially less than 99 cents.
Music executives who support Jobs say the higher prices could backfire, sending iTunes' customers in search of songs on free, unauthorized file-swapping networks.
Signs of conflict over pricing issues are increasingly apparent. This month, Apple started its iTunes service in Japan without songs from the two major companies -- Sony BMG Music Entertainment or Warner Music Group -- leaving artists like Avril Lavigne, Beyonce and Rob Thomas out of the catalog because the companies refused to license their music to iTunes, said executives involved in the talks.
That gap in the Japanese music market, the world's second-biggest, is considered a harbinger of what may await American consumers as the contracts that record companies have with Apple in the United States come up for renewal early next year.
Jobs in the past has cast himself as a David-sized innovator battling established media Goliaths like Disney and Microsoft. But these days, allies and adversaries both agree, he is an 800-pound gorilla, with more clout online than even Wal-Mart has in the brick and mortar world.
Apple commands an estimated 75 percent of digital music sales, and roughly 80 percent of sales of MP3 players, with its market-leading iPod. While many still admire Jobs' seeming Midas touch -- iTunes quickly established a market for paid downloads after the industry wasted years on misfires -- he also inspires enmity or jealousy from others in the industry, which is back in a slump after a modest rebound last year.
Jobs' vision of simple, uniform pricing for songs, and a policy of limiting Apple's music to Apple's devices, are increasingly under attack. http://www.detnews.com/2005/technology/0508/27/tech-294943.htm
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