Apple (AAPL.O) is in talks with major music companies to offer customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPods and iPhones, the Financial Times said.
Citing people familiar with the talks, the paper said the negotiations hinged on a dispute over the price Apple would be willing to pay for access to the labels’ libraries.
One industry executive said research showed consumers would pay a premium of up to $100 for unlimited access to music for the lifetime of a device, or a monthly fee of $7-$8 for a subscription model.
Apple was not immediately available for comment.
Source: Yahoo! News
Well, Just thought i’d post this. Definitely sounds interesting, but im not sure how this would work exactly. It only says iPods and iPhones…. would it be streaming via wifi sort of like how services like Rhapsody work? or would it be unlimited downloads to a PC or Mac? The article is kind of vague. I would pay $100 for access to iTunes library. It is so convenient and it downloads very fast.
March 19, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Yeah I think I’d put in $100 too, but preferably the 7-8 bucks! This is a great idea and I’m surprised that there hasn’t been much talk of a music subscribtion fees system earlier. If they had the $100 fee there would be a lot of people who wouldn’t use it up to that amount and others who would go way over (like myself, haha). Once you think about it, $100 is like 10 cds for $9.99 or like a hundred individual songs. I’d rather the subscription fee of $7-8 per month than pay a premium on the iPod. Who knows what will happen, let’s just hope they decide soon. Or comment soon!
March 19, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Well it says $100 for the lifetime of a device…. my last iPod lasted me $40.
I think eventually we won’t even have MP3 players. Wifi will be so widespread we will just have “iTunes iPods” that just stream anything you want over the internet, they will have minimal hard drive space, and you will just connect them to your computer to set up and sync playlists.
March 26, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Hellooo?
Rhapsody users have been enjoying “all you can eat” music for years now. Granted, the monthly price is higher ($10 – $15 a month), but it is really “all-you-can-listen-to” on Windows computers, Tivos, and a wide variety of home and portable music devices. Including the “revolutionary” idea of on-line streaming. So old.
It seems funny to me how everybody talks about “the best choice for Apple” and “the best choice for the recording industry”. How about us, the consumers? Tying your subscription to a device makes sense if the surcharge is low enough, and I don’t think the recording industry is going to accept Apple’s pricing on it. If they do, great for us.
And why only the iPhone, anyway?