Universal Says Will Market Music To iTunes “At Will”
07.02.07 - 03:32pm
Universal and Steve Jobs have never been the best of friends as arguing over the price of digital music downloads has become one long drawn out fight. Now, tensions appear to be heating as Universal has refused to renew their two-year contract with Apple’s iTunes instead opting for a month to month contract saying they will only market the music to Apple “at will.”
This gives Universal some extra power in any negotiations because should they choose to pull their music it would be the equivalent of 1 of every 3 hit songs no longer being available on iTunes.
With so much new competition in the digital music store market, Universal may be looking for a company that is willing to go with the higher prices Universal wants and they may also want to keep DRM attached.
Apple has had a great monopoly over the digital music market accounting for 76 percent of digital download sales. To lose a company like Universal thus suddenly limiting iTunes songs could be quite a blow to the company.
The iTunes music library is ever expanding and Elton John has announced he will add all of his more than 400 songs to the list.
