Apple Plans to Purchase Universal Music 661
mrbiiggy writes "Apparently Apple has been plotting to purchase Universal Music for $6 billion, reports Spiegel Online (read the Google translation). Who knew Apple even had that kind of cash? (The L.A. Times is also reporting this, free reg required.)"
What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Interesting)
I buy my music on CD, although I only grab them off the shelf when I want to check out the cover art and lyrics. I suppose I might start buying electronically, but unless the price drops to reflect the savings on manufacturing and distribution, I don't really see the point. I still like having a tangible object to associate with the artist's work. (so much so that whenever there's a sale on I end up buying albums I like that I ripped from friends)
Steve must be pretty sure that he's got a killer reason if he's planning such a huge move. I suppose that killer reason could be big savings to the consumer, but somehow I doubt it. What else is he going to offer?
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Interesting)
It would mean that any DRM system that is worked out for music will have to consider the interests of Apple/Universal. This effectively avoids a MS lockout on music, which would obviously be very harmful to sales as the Mac is very media orientated.
Otherwise you are right, there seems not that much of a natural fit between these companies.
Don't forget Pixar! (Score:5, Interesting)
I still remember about a year ago the NYT had a big Tech vs. the Entertainment Industry with a picture of Eisner (Disney CEO) representing the Entertainment industry, Jobs representing the tech industry (hiliting Apple's Rip, Mix, Burn campaign) and a screen shot of Monster's Inc. representing "pirated" works. Although the article stated Monster's Inc. was created by Pixar (distributed by Disney), the reporter seemed completely unaware of Job's other job. It would have added a whole new twist to the significance of the "facts".
Re:Not to mention everyone else (Score:4, Funny)
And you are arguably light years behind on your psychiatric medication.
I use Linux on the desktop at work and OSX at home. Other than supporting a better web browser (Galeon), Linux is a pale shadow of OSX in every single way when it comes to usability and GUI integration.
Re:It also offers Apple a way to step on MS' face (Score:4, Funny)
Re:It also offers Apple a way to step on MS' face (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Interesting)
The kind of service I would like, and which I would happily pay $10/month or so for goes one step furthur. I would like direct access to their catalogue, so I could stream or download any tracks I wanted when I wanted them. They could then log which tracks I download, and pay the artists concerned proportionally. I would be perfectly happy for the music to expire if I stopped paying for it. I would not be happy with some kind of analogue watermark that affects the quality of the sound.
I would also rather that they used Ogg, instead of AAC (Apple's apparent choice) since then all the money would go to distribution and the artists, not to patent royalties.
This raises an interesting point (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:shut up about .ogg (Score:5, Insightful)
What's there to innovate? It's an audio codec. It sounds better at lower bitrates than mp3. What more do you need? What features are you talking about? The music-listening public doesn't care about features, they just want their songs, and they want to be able to burn them to CD, play them on their portable digital music players, they want to pay as little as possible for it, etc.
Re:shut up about .ogg (Score:5, Funny)
Actually I don't really care, I don't have any Apple products. I'm just trying to recover from a karma dip from my "MS really isn't that bad!" thread a couple of days ago.
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:3, Interesting)
I bit, clicked through the thinksecret article, and I don't buy it.
An iPod dock, sure. I've wanted one for ages. But USB2? They won't abandon firewire, and they sure as hell won't ship two models, one for windows, one for MacOS. And standard play buttons, etc? Gimme a break - the point of the iPod is to be used one handed - there's zero point to one if it's designed that way, it goes from innovative design to bad design.
I don't doubt the size upgrades or a dock option, but come on. The rest is hypothe
Won't ship 2 models? They do now (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Won't ship 2 models? They do now (Score:4, Informative)
Triv
Re:Won't ship 2 models? They do now (Score:4, Insightful)
Though, not too likely just because of the way the original iPod is designed and loved by people. Adding two ports might confuse people (which one do I plug it in to?), not sure if USB 2.0 sends enough power to charge the thing (meaning you'd still have to use the ac->firewire adapter, or be required to use the dock to charge it), etc.
And the user interface changes are downright fucking stupid. Moving the buttons gains nothing and loses a lot. The article is therefore most likely BS.
Re:Won't ship 2 models? They do now (Score:5, Insightful)
As I understand it, Apple doesn't want to use USB2 for the following reasons:
1) The plug is the same as USB1, which could cause confusion. Apple hates confusion. Also, having a single USB1 device on the chain will throttle down all devices to USB1 speeds.
2) They invented FireWire, and think its technically better in every way (xfer speed, serial vs. bus, powered, etc.). I'm inclined to agree.
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:3, Funny)
(Actually, I suppose that was a success, given that AOL bought TW with stock that turned out to be worth a fraction of what folks thought...)
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:4, Funny)
No kidding. More like the best deal in corporate history.
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Insightful)
Will we see that? maybe some day.
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Insightful)
This argument is getting tired. Apple has earn the trust of many users. Microsoft has not. Do I need to spell it out for you? A company's reputation is a direct result of their relations with their customers.
Oh, and isn't Apple the company that has kept all of its hardware proprietary (and expensive) instead of opening the standard up to compatibles?
This is just sad. Get a clue. Better yet, get a dictionary. Apple hardware has as much, if not more standards than your PC hardware does (its motherboard is open, its firmware is open, FireWire is a standard, AirPort and AirPort Extreme are standards, etc). Popularity does not equal non-proprietary . Apple's OS is based on BSD and its base is open-sourced [apple.com]. Many of Apple's projects are open-sourced or based and contributing to open source projects.
Now, it is true that Mac OS X is proprietary, but so is Windows. So what was your point again? Propeitary means owned by a proprietor (a company in this case). Almost everything you buy is proprietary. I always am amazed when there is still such ignorance on the net.
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, they're a company that offers products generally on the high end of the market (although their notebook pricing isn't much different from rough equivalents).
But in terms of open standards, their OS has an open source kernel, open source development software (GCC, etc) is easily available at no cost, and they have introduced well-received standards like Roundevous (sorry, I'm too lazy to look up the correct spelling).
Even their Keynote presentation software uses a native XML format which is dead easy to generate automatically, opening a whole host of wonderful possibilities.
Ever since MacOS X was introduced, they've gotten dramatically closer to open standards, and I think that's to be applauded.
D
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:3, Funny)
If Apple owns Universal, then Apple will own DEATH ROW RECORDS! That means Sug Knight will be working for Steve Jobs. What a pair!
Next time Micro$hit threatens to pull Office for Mac, or threatens not to provide Universal records artists in some proprietary format playable on windows computers, Stevie will send Sug over to Redmond to have a little "talk" with mr. gates.
It's death row, nigga, you better axe somebody!
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Informative)
If you were doing a million, I dare say the cost would be under 10 cents each.
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Insightful)
That means that everything else must cost $15.80, right.
OK, now lets make a cassette tape of the same stuff.
Lets assume the Cassette costs the same 20 cents to make (although I really think that the cost would be higher).
The cassette sells for $10. Doing the math all that other stuff must cost $ 9.80 cents.
Hmmm.
The question for the reader is, are CD prices rigged?
The answer is yes.
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you've taken collegiate level economics then you're aware of the elasticity of demand. [quickmba.com]
When CD's first hit the market and went past the early adopter stage in to critical mass, CD's were priced between $16 and $20 with replication costs just under $2 (and CD players were $300-$400). Within my first year of buying CD's, the pricing seemed to reach equilibrium at roughly $16.
The kicker? As hardware prices have continued to plummet the CD pricing itself has remained relatively constant. All the while the prices of CD replication have continued to fall and are now under $
It's no wonder that my 14 year old daughter refuses to spend her babysitting money on music. She has an iPod and we have been in a constant struggle over piracy as I refuse to allow her to use Kazaa, copy friends CD's or make CD's for others (from the music she *does* buy). She views me as the "tough unreasonable Dad" and she truly doesn't understand why she should throw money away and why, "...the record companies are so lame and don't get it".
In the next breath she says, "...I'd buy all day long if CD's were under $10" and she does buy frequently when on sale or on mark-down at retailers. Also, in two seconds she'd sign up for a music service *if* it had all her favorite bands and she could buy songs one-at-a-time (not yet available though some services getting closer).
Makes me wonder if the record company executives slept through Econ 101 in college?
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:5, Informative)
the cost of cd stamping, printing, assembling, and distribution I have heard is around 2.00 a CD in reasonable volume. most CD's at stores I go to cost around 13 to 16 dollors.
that means the store is making between 5 (13 minus 8) and 7 (16 minus 9) dollors a CD. and the record company makes between 6 and 7 dollors a CD.
Of course there my be a middle man between the two not owned by the record company that drops the companyies cut some. But if not the profit is about equal and slightly favoring the companies.
No! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What's your plan, big guy? (Score:4, Interesting)
One working label? (Score:5, Funny)
well, that or suddenly all Universal CD's will come out looking way better than every other CD on the market, but only have songs a few years old.
Holy shit, it's not April 1! (Score:5, Insightful)
From the *one* company that has a controls an entire consumer hardware platform? Hell, no. If this isn't a hoax somehow, it'd be a play toward building a media playback system that the media companies will go for. And one *hell* of a lucrative positioning, if it works.
"Apple-compatible" audio. They have a portable player and the desktop already in place, and then they just need a home theater system. Apple is the sole company in the world that could build an entire *working* DRM system. MS doesn't have the hardware control.
Damn, in retrospect, Jobs actually had a cohesive plan these last few years. Who woulda thunk?
Re:Holy shit, it's not April 1! (Score:5, Insightful)
Hi there, thanks for coming out of your cave. Let me introduce you to Sony.
Re:One working label? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's easy to take a liberal approach to the whole MP3 issue when the catalogs in question don't belong to you. It sure would be interesting to see how they behave when the ripping and mixing and burning affects properties they own, and not properties owned by someone else.
But I have to wonder whether Apple really would do this in the first place. They're a computer company, scratching for a small piece of market share
Re:One working label? (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe Apple is already aware that Universal's entire back catalog, along with every other record co.'s, is out in the world in unencrypted red book format already (and thus on Kazaa). :)
Re:One working label? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:One working label? (Score:5, Funny)
dalamcd
Re:One working label? (Score:3, Insightful)
they have what, 3% marketshare? maybe 5% tops? how the hell would they make money selling to 3-5% of the market.
you can't put the evil borg logo on every computer vendor. there are some things that require a huge market share before they'll work, that would be one of them.
Re:One working label? (Score:5, Informative)
I thought we had killed this one... Ok, one more time from the top:
Apple has 3%-5% of the PC market. This means in studies about what retail chains sell, 3-5% of those computers are Apple.
This does not include direct-order, such as web or catalog sales, or the Apple stores themselves.
Having said that, 3-5% of the absolutely gigantic computer market is still quite huge.
Apple has around 25-30 million working Macs out in the world. Maybe half of them are OS X-compatible right now.
Put in another perspective, there are about 40 million Playstation 2s in the world. So yes, the market is fine. They make money.
And besides, what makes you think they're going to sell this music (if its true) just to Mac owners? How crazy is that? You think you're gonna need a Mac to listen to U2?
Re:One working label? (Score:3, Interesting)
Quicktime has some pretty strong DRM built in so I'd assume that would be their choice. Macs and MS Windows win, linux loses again (which sucks). BTW, IFAIK the iPod can't play QT files (just MP3, MP3 VBR, WAV, AIFF, and Audible) but changes to the firmware might change that.
Re:One working label? (Score:5, Informative)
QuickTime is, however, ridiculously extensible... to the point where you could easily add DRM-like behaviour to it. There are controls now for specifying really simple things, like 'don't allow user to save movie', etc. There's no certificates or signing in/out or any of that.
MP3 VBR bugged (Score:5, Informative)
There's a bug in the MP3 VBR playback. Basically, the iPod requires your MP3 to have a Xing header on it, not the newer Fraunhoffer VBR header. My encoder produces VBRs with Fraunhoffer headers not Xing, so I always have to post-process them. The bug manifests itself if you pause, fast forward or rewind - doing so causes the iPod to lose the correct track length and it usually cuts the track off early.
Fortunately, another Slashdotter pointed me to the (Windows-based) solution - a utility that adds a Xing header. It can be had from here, in the Downloads section [kcom.ne.jp].
Cheers,
Ian
Payoff again? (Score:3, Funny)
So will Apple Computer have to pay off Apple Records again?
who knew apple had that kind of money? (Score:5, Informative)
Apple has cash, not all of it though (Score:5, Informative)
What I'm waiting to see is how this interacts with Apple's new music service which supposedly debuts next month. Nice catalog of music to choose from.
Re:Apple has cash, not all of it though (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Nice catalog of music (Score:3, Informative)
Blackalicious
DJ Shadow
GZA
Jurassic 5
Planet Asia
Rahzel
Redman
The Roots
Sure there is manufactured crap, but there is also some true talent on Universal or their subsidiaries. (You can probably tell what style of music I'm listening to, but the same holds true for every genre.)
Re:Nice catalog of music (Score:3, Funny)
Slogan Change... (Score:5, Interesting)
Rip... Mix... Burn... Sue...
If Apple execs gain the upper hand in the merger/takeover:
Buy... Rip... Mix... Burn...
Re:Slogan Change... (Score:3, Interesting)
Easy its bought by acquisition. Apple will have new investors, shareholders and management from the record company that are strong supporters of the RIAA/MPAA.
Why do Record company executives sound so clueless and evil? Because their customers demand them to. Who are there customers? Its not you and me but the shareholders and investors. They are just really mouthpieces and they do what they do to keep there jobs since the shareholders actually
And as we know... (Score:5, Interesting)
This could be very good or very bad.
Free giveaways out of Universal's catalouge could be an incredible boost to sale of music-related hardware like the iPod or software like iMovie. We all need soundtracks, right?
On the other hand, apple could be planning on using their new acquisition in order to further lock apple users into a single platform with costly upgrades. The idea that comes to mind is that they will start making 'Apple Only' music releases that can only be played on Jobs-approved hardware.
Personally, I hope that Apple will use this aquisition to free up music and maybe some more of their own IP and use it to further hardware sales.
Re:And as we know... (Score:3, Insightful)
Considering Apple, as a great a product as they have, only has around 4% of the OS market, I have trouble believing that this could happen if music were distributed on CDs. Yes, they have around 21% of the mp3 player market and would be able to do something like this if this were an mp3-only world, but I think the CD is going to be around for a while so I wouldn't worry a
Lock-in? (Score:5, Interesting)
Evidence:
The iPod is available for Windows.
MP3s play on any computer.
OS X promotes open standards.
OS intentionally provides Windows and Linux interoperability.
Apple seems to has no interest in things that *lock* a user in. Sure, they have things that entice users to stay, like iTunes, but there's no lock-in there. I see the mentality being "well, you _could_ use something else, but why? Our stuff is SWEET!"
Apple Records? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Apple Records? (Score:5, Informative)
Since they are buying Universal, which is an established brand...I would imagine that they will merely keep the name but make them a legal subsidiary of Apple.
Re:Apple Records? (Score:5, Interesting)
Not quite.
Apple settled with Apple Records a loooong time ago. When they (Apple Computer) paid off Apple (Records), they bought the rights to do whatever the hell they pleased with the Apple name. Apple Records existed at the time solely to collect old Beatles royalties and I'm not even sure if it still exists. It's not an active recording company at any rate.
While I'm at it, Apple licensed the GUI from Xerox, too. ;)
sharing (Score:4, Interesting)
Jobs is the only one that "gets" it. With Univeral being one of the largest record companies- this could change the face of music inthe digital age.
My fear is that it's such a big addition to apple- will they loss focus. Look at the problems sony electronics have trying to be cutting edge but catering to Sony music's fears of piracy.
And what about that pesky lawsuit with Apple Records. Apple was never to go into the music business.
Re:sharing (Score:3, Interesting)
I think Jobs is the man with the plan.
who knew? (Score:5, Funny)
Their accountants, I'd assume.
Re:who knew? (Score:5, Funny)
Full Story. (Score:5, Informative)
Adapt or die, as Lessig says.
Wow.
(Not logged in due to copyright infringement, and fear of being called a Karma Whore...)
-----
Apple Reportedly in Talks to Buy Universal Music
A deal could yield up to $6 billion for parent firm Vivendi and make tech maverick Steve Jobs the most powerful figure in the record business.
By Chuck Philips
Times Staff Writer
April 11, 2003
In a pairing that would alter the architecture of the music business, Apple Computer Inc. is in talks with Vivendi Universal to buy Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, for as much as $6 billion, sources said.
Such a seemingly unlikely combination would instantly make technology guru Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and chief executive, the most powerful player in the record industry.
Universal, which reaps about $6 billion in sales annually from artists such as 50 Cent, Shania Twain, U2 and Luciano Pavarotti, would be controlled by a maverick who revolutionized the computer market and coined the mantra "rip, mix, burn," which many in the music business read as an invitation to electronic piracy.
The discussions, a closely held secret for several months, could founder over unresolved issues. Apple hasn't made a formal bid but may offer $5 billion to $6 billion for the music company before Vivendi's April 29 board meeting, according to the sources.
Jobs and other Apple representatives declined to comment, as did representatives of Universal Music Group and Vivendi Universal.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker's surprise play for Universal Music could alter the dynamics of the bidding for Vivendi's entertainment assets. The French giant, in a move to reduce debt, seeks to raise $7 billion this year by selling assets that probably would include some or all of its Universal film, television, theme park and music units.
Investor Marvin Davis has offered about $13 billion for 65% of the entertainment assets and has been the only known bidder to express serious interest in the music company. A separate sale of the music operation would appear to work in favor of Liberty Media Corp. and others that are focused on the company's other entertainment properties.
Jobs' pursuit of Universal comes at a time when Apple, with less than 3% of the desktop computing market, has been struggling to find its next wave of growth and the music industry has been buckling beneath the pressure of online piracy and falling sales.
Defying conventional wisdom, Jobs apparently is betting that music is finally on the verge of becoming a profitable presence on the Internet. Apple has been quietly testing a service that some music business insiders believe could pave the way for widespread online distribution of songs.
People who have tried the service, expected to debut by the end of April, say it makes downloading and purchasing music as simple and nontechnical as buying a book from Amazon.com. It allows users to buy and download songs to their computers with a single click and to transfer the music automatically to their portable MP3 players.
The computer maker, known for its iMac desktop computer and other high-profile products, posted an $8-million loss on sales of $1.47 billion for its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 28 -- marking the company's first back-to-back quarterly losses since Jobs returned to the CEO post in 1997. Apple has annual sales of about $5.74 billion and had about $4.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of Dec. 28.
Jobs, who also is chairman of Pixar Animation Studios, helped found Apple in 1976, then stepped down as its chief nine years later to launch Next Inc. He returned to Apple when it acquired Next.
Universal Music Group, which saw operating profit slide 23% to $510 million last year, dominates the industry in 63 territori
Re:Full Story. (Score:4, Funny)
Hopefully not big in the same way that AOL buying Time Warner was...
Cash? (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, but wait a second---if a whole *Record Label* is only worth one-sixteenth as much as the RIAA things some MP3 trading is worth... shouldn't there be a million companies making tons of money with MP3s by now? I've only heard of a few less-than-stellar projects.
Cash? (Score:5, Insightful)
Who said they were paying cash?
They have 4.4 BILLION in cash reserves though.
They appear to have pretty good credit. Everyone else is taking advantage of low interest rates right now, why not Apple?
This could be the match made in heaven (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple may not come up with the best business model, but I'm pretty sure they can turn a profit and demonstrate that music labels can make money off the Internet if they embrace technology instead of trying to sue it out of existance.
New slogan (Score:5, Funny)
Apple's new slogan will be "Rip, Mix, Burn.. Except anything by Universal Music."
Re:New slogan (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, since MS competes head-to-head with Apple in the 'digital lifestyle products' market, if Apple goes through with this, I'd fully expect MS to try to parter/acquire a music label as well.
And considering that the consumer electronic+computer biz is worth much more than the music biz, it's not too far off to speculate that a day may soon come when the 'content brigade' plays second fid
For those seeking a motive... (Score:5, Informative)
Hmm... (Score:3, Informative)
Wall St never approves of anything Apple does (Score:5, Informative)
"Didn't know they had the money" (Score:5, Insightful)
It would take a couple days and many pages to write up the details about why this could happen. Expect that they won't take Universal lock, stock and all the debt -- this will be done in a nasty way which screws a lot of creditors. Universal may be split into the more profitable bits and left with the debt-ridden bits, which would then be spun off and left to file Chapter 11 and later dissolved.
Just 'cause they're "cool" and not MS doesn't make Apple stupid in business. They've survived this long...
Re:"Didn't know they had the money" (Score:5, Insightful)
If the market cap is $5.1B, and they have $4.4B in liquid bank assets, that means the Tech and patent portfolio, "Apple" brand, outstanding accounts receivable, Plant, Property, and Equipment are only worth $700M.
Go get the stock now... the Mac OS is probably worth $500M in development and marketing alone.
2 for 1 deal (Score:5, Funny)
shake your money maker (Score:4, Insightful)
um... anyone who's been paying attention. Apple's been pretty consistently reporting profit for years now, and remarkably little of that has gone out of the company.
Money goes in, but doesn't come out - simple math that one. They're sitting on some huge cash reserves.
Perhaps this is a sign of the shape of things to come from Cupertino? providing the 'spokes' to their own 'digital hub' might be the next phase of the company's revival... anyway it looks like good news for all (Mac-heads and non-Mac-heads) on the DRM front if Apple get their (affirmedly anti-DRM) mitts on a major record label.
Focus? Culture? (Score:5, Interesting)
A big concern from a business standpoint to me would be focus. Apple has done pretty damn well by focusing on producing really great machines (and software) that appeal to a couple specific segments of the market. Their expertise really is in the "art" of computer design, both hardware and software and experience. This doesn't necessarily translate to running a music label which is a completely different business with completely different requirements.
Granted Jobs has some exposure to this world (via Pixar) but that doesn't make it a good fit for Apple. I expect the culture clash will be huge. Apple is a pretty unique company. I don't see an obvious fit here.
Post from good source that doesn't require login.. (Score:5, Informative)
Free reg. required, eh? (Score:3, Funny)
[clickity-click] there, and now to press the Enter key
What I'd like to beable to do.. (Score:5, Interesting)
is buy a CD online for a much reduced price (where is the golden rule that says music produces/artist have to be millionaires? I mean, noone else is..) but then rather than have to wait 2/3 days before it's delivered so I can listen to it, be given the oppotunity to download high bitrate ogg's of the album. That way I get the music on demand, and get the tangable album in a few days time too.
The dot com bubble burst, and techies took their pay cut.. I think it's about time the media bubble burst and the 'stars' take their pay cut too!
Re:What I'd like to beable to do.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Asking all the artists who only sell 500,000 albums in their lifetime to take a pay cut because n'sync will sell 100,000,000 in their lifetime is unfair. Unless of course you want to make sure that there is less diversity in music, in which case it's a genius plan.
Contradiction (Score:5, Funny)
Apple following Sony? Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
There is so much conflict of interest inside Sony right now... and its really held back Sony's electronics division, specifically its walkman/mp3 players which are all crippled by copyright protection mechanisms.
The Civil War Inside Sony [wired.com]Does Apple really want to get itself in the same situation? I feel that Apple's relative unemcubrance is what allow it to dethrown Sony as the maker of the coolest portable music device you can buy.
Who knew? (Score:3, Informative)
Dude, even in Apple's darkest days (pre-reentrance of Steve Jobs) under the stewardship of John Scully and Gil Amelio when all the sign painters in Cuppertino were all geared to start posting "Out Of Business" signs all over Infinite Loop...even in their DARKEST hours...they were still worth over 30 Billion dollars. Only a mega-corp of their size could've weathered the 30 Megaton business blunders they themselves created. 6 Billion? Especially! now that Apple is profitable again is chump-money!
Apple pissing on Gateway for ripoffs? (Score:5, Interesting)
http://newsobserver.com/24hour/technology/story
So did Apple just take a big, steaming dump all over Gateway?
It seems that Gateway includes music downloads with EMusic as a part of their promotions to get people to buy their boxes
That's kinda funny, when you think about it. I wonder what the Gateway higher-ups are thinking right now.
And really, what, if anything, does this mean for Gateway? Are they now advertising for Apple?
-/-
Mikey-San
Crazy Ass Predictions (Score:4, Funny)
2) With the release of their fifth film, Pixar announces their deal with Disney has been fulfilled and they have formed a new alliance with Apple as the distributor for future releases. Soundtracks will be available on Universal Records.
3) In a surprise move, Dell acquires Apple Records, only to discover afterwards that the entire Beatles catalog is owned by Michael Jackson. Begins ad campaign with interns explaining why Wings was better.
4) Bill Gates announces new behind-the-ear implant that will allow streaming music directly into a persons brain. Sharp-eyed consumers discover Terms-Of-Service includes clause allowing device to record thoughts that immediately become his property.
Here's how it could make money (Score:4, Insightful)
Let the actual music-store sales of CDs fade into oblivion where it belongs as it is grotesquely undercut by Apple's new music distribution service, which operates with only bandwidth as an expense - no worries about costly shipping, manufacturing and logistics.
The music distribution service has hooks into Apple's already attractive personal solutions (iTunes, iPod, .mac) making these products even more attractive to customers.
Universal benefits because it is first to jump on board and has a premier business relationship with Apple's new killer service, giving it a (slight) advantage over other labels who may have to pay a slightly higher premium to use the first ever legal on-line music distribution system that is effective and "just works".
If Apple/Universal does this properly (by playing the right cards at the right time), they will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Apple knows the key (Score:5, Interesting)
If Apple buys Universal, then they can continue to sell normal CD's - but also sell everything online. Even older unpublished stuff, which is currently languishing. Then you have not just CD buyers, but nostalgia buyers and people who just want one hit song and not a whole CD. That provides many more channels for revenue, unlike normal music companies which oddly seems to desire that only limited revenue channels be allowed to exist.
Furthermore, by staying away from copy protection they save money over the stupid record companies spending all sorts of cash trying to prevent the CD buyer from accessing their own music! While other companies are building up bad will with stupid formats for online music and CD's that don't play in all CD players, Universal could sweep the industry.
At the very least, the entry of a non-music company into the music business has got to have some interesting ramifications somewhere. Especially when you have a computer company that understands consumers better than most at the helm...
It's all about the business model (Score:4, Interesting)
See, the current business model for music (sell recorded music bound to physical objects such as CDs) is, if not dying, on shakey ground. The reason Sony hasn't moved to widespread DRM is that they make three times as much money selling MP3 players as they do selling CDs.
I think Jobs is trying to get Apple to that place as well. He wants to use Universal's content as a way to drive up demand for iPods and iMacs.
If that's it, this is good news. It means a big chunk of the music industry will be owned by someone who'll just laugh at the RIAA.
My Theory... (Score:4, Funny)
Why not Vivendi Universal's Software divisions? (Score:4, Interesting)
This could be very big news (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Universal Music Group is the largest major label in the industry.
2. UMG already owns an incredible MP3 download service called emusic.com. Yes, there are ZERO DRM controls. Just great music from thousands of artists (mainly independent at this point, but still an important step).
3. Apple would want to leverage their hardware/software assets vs. the content UMG controls. This would clearly mean cross selling between the iPod [one of Apple's most success products in years], the Mac platform, Quicktime, and all of UMG music/video assets.
Maybe it's not Apple, folks (Score:4, Interesting)
Steve Jobs is a multi-billionaire in his own right. If he wanted to spend $6,000,000,000 on Universal Music then he - Steve Jobs - easily could. Aruably what we are seeing is Jobs setting Apple up to be a compeitor to Sony. He has always admired that company - I wouldn't be suprised if he has always wanted to emulate it.
Imagine an Apple/Pixar/Universal company. This isn't an ill-fitting puzzle like AOL Time Warner. This would be, very much, a calculated and very simple plan by Jobs to evolve Apple.
The last two things that Jobs would be missing in the plan would be a movie studio and a game console. Pixar could easily continue to work with the studios for distribution, thus the need for a studio goes down.
That leaves a game console. The GameCube is an excellent design, in my opinion, with digital hub aspirations of its own. "GameCube II" could prove to be a spectacular hit (especially if they have a Zelda and/or Metroid launch title)...and Apple could be heading that up. Would Nintendo sell itself to Jobs? They might...they just might.
The downside to this great (yet caffinated-induced-due-to-lack-of-sleep) fantasy is that we Mac users would almost be guaranteed of never seeing another version of MS Office past version 11.
But is that really a bad thing? ;)
Sosumi - No, really (Score:5, Informative)
When the Macintosh II came out with greatly expanded sound capabilities built in (not as an add-on MIDI card), Apple performed one of the most famous corporate "jokes" of all time, naming one of the new, high-quality system alert sounds "Sosumi" (Pronounced "So, sue me"). I don't think Apple Records (if they are even still around) ever took them up on it.
strategic decision... (Score:4, Interesting)
This could be very interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
The music industry is generally agreed to be in deep trouble. Their real problem isn't piracy - it's video. The music industry used to have their own channel - record stores. They now share their channel with Hollywood, since most stores that sell CDs now also sell DVDs, and even video games. A DVD looks just like an audio CD, and DVD players will play both. Yet the DVD has far more production value, more play time, and often costs less. Not unexpectedly, movie DVD sales are growing, music video sales are up, and audio CD sales are down. Total sales of "entertainment delivered on circular recording media" are way up. But the music industry's share of that market is down. (New figures on this were in yesterday's Wall Street Journal.)
The music industry has been in defensive mode for years now, frantically trying to keep retail prices up in the face of this competition. Few if any new ideas have emerged from the music industry in years. Their cash-cow genres have been mined out - rock, rap, house, classical, and country all peaked a long time ago. Broadcasting companies now have more clout than record companies. Congress is tired of all the RIAA's whining. The industry is sick.
Jobs can shake this up quite a bit. Especially since he can buy Universal at a bargain price, which means he can undercut the competition at retail. He's brighter than the current management in the music business. (That's not hard. The film industry has smart people, but top management in music is generally agreed to be dumb.) He might be able to find a way to pull the industry out of the tank. The Jobs "reality distortion field", an ongoing pain in the computer industry, would be an asset in the music industry.
Re:Dear god, bring back Sculley and the Newton (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless of course, they're looking to PROVE that the other record labels are full of sh*t, by building a new buisness model that will be successful. This way they get a boat load of artists and music that they can use to prove their point.
The Record industry is dying not because people don't want music, but because the old means of production and consumption are dying. If Apple can figure out a new means that the average person likes and uses, then they'll make a BOATLOAD of cash. The record industry made a lot of money in the past, because it worked. It doesn't any more. That doesn't mean it's broken and can never come back. Heck, if anyone can come up with a good solution, Apple is it.
Re:Dear god, bring back Sculley and the Newton (Score:5, Interesting)
I think you are exactly right.
I can just hear Jobs now, calling the record execs 'a bunch of bozos who don't get it'.
Jobs is famous for this. He thinks he's got it figured out. And you know what? I say, give him a shot. Anything's better than the ridiculous Town Elders From Footloose who are running the show now.
maybe it will be like... (Score:5, Insightful)
seems like just the guy to perhaps "think different" and turn around (and hopefully improve) another industry that "everyone _knows_ is dying".
Anyone remember his name? I think it was Steve something-or-other...
Re:Dear god, bring back Sculley and the Newton (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it fits well into the Digital Hub. Apple would be ensuring that they aren't excluded from a future digital world dominated by MS formats.
Re:Hilarious translation. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Good ! (Score:3, Interesting)
I would think that like Sony, Apple would have a schizophrenic attitude toward DRM. For it sometimes, and sometimes against it.
Re:Apple Music (Score:3, Informative)
If you did mean Beetles, then that would be the Rolling Beetles!!! [mp3.com]
And if the Universal deal goes through, they would be Apple artists!