Universal Refuses To Renew On iTunes

UnknowingFool writes "It appears for the moment that Universal will not renew its long term contract with Apple for content on the iTunes store. While the details are not known about the exact nature of the dispute, many speculate that it has to do with Apple's stance on fixed pricing and Apple's refusal to license their DRM. The worse case scenario may include Universal pulling its entire catalog from iTunes. Both sides stand to lose out with 1/3 of of new releases coming from Universal and an estimated 15% of Universal's sales coming from digital downloads. Apple's market share is about 75% of digital downloads, and digital downloads are growing while CD sales are shrinking."

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Uh, this is what I'm thinking.

[PopeRatzo]

Like I needed one more reason to download all my music via bittorrent from my favorite trackers.

OK - Here's a thing

[Quiet_Desperation]

But some music executives have been chafing at the flat rate

Well, Universal, here's *my* new flat rate for any of your artists.

$0.00

I call it the Interwebs Discount.

Happy now?

And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.

Re:Uh... what are you thinking?

[Paradise Pete]

Not to mention, Universal wants money from each iPod sold

I think Apple should demand money from Universal for each CD purchased. After all, chances are that it's going to end up on an iPod anyway.

Re:Uh... what are you thinking?

[Khaed]

What a shitty deal -- "We get money from every Zune sold!"

That's like what -- a buck fifty total now?