Current Industry News
Posted in News on March 20th, 2008Apple proposes free iTunes access
iPod fans could pay more for their music players but get free access to iTunes music if a proposal from Apple gets approval from the music industry.
According to the Financial Times, the tech firm is planning to charge a premium for iPod and iPhone devices in return for free access to its entire music library, but negotiations are still ongoing with the labels.
The move is similar to one taken by Nokia, which signed a deal with Universal Music in December. The “Comes with music” programme allows customers to buy a Nokia device and get a year of unlimited access to music tracks. Once the year is up, customers get to keep their music. The devices are set to go on sale later this year, and Nokia is in talks to add more labels to its line-up.
Apple hasn’t commented on reports of its latest plans, but the general feeling is that the current hold-up centres on what the labels will be paid for their music. While Nokia is said to offer about USD80 to the labels for every device sold, a sum that is divided between labels according to their market share, Apple is reportedly offering a bargain basement USD20 per device.
The tech firm is also believed to be examining a subscription model for iPhone users.
Digital music sales now account for almost 30 percent of the total US music market and 20 percent of the European market, according to research from Point Topic. The same report said that legal music downloads are on the increase — some 1.7 billion single music tracks were downloaded in 2007, a 53 percent rise on 2006. The report found that Apple was top of the charts, selling about 2 billion songs between January 2007 and January 2008. However, in Japan, Apple’s revenue fell 11 percent in 2007.
