Oh brother. Universal CEO Doug Morris -- who's name has become synonymous with a new wave of anti-music-fan tactics -- is at it again, and this time he's turning his sights on Apple. At a press event in New York today Morris said, when asked by reporters if he would hit Apple for a royalty on each iPod sold -- which he asked for and got from Microsoft for Zune -- "It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too far. I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe not in the same way," adding, "The Zune (deal) was an amazingly interesting exercise."
I mused about where this was all going a few weeks ago after the Zune deal was announced. It looks as if my worst fears are starting to come true. The idea that Universal, or any record label, should receive a royalty on any device is ludicrous and that goes double for a device which has no real recording capability. Morris and his pals at the RIAA can croon all they wish about most iPods being nothing more than piracy storage devices but, the simple fact is that's just not true. What's also a fact, -- a far more unfortunate one -- everytime the mainstream press lets Morris get away with this nonsense at a press conference, they help to further the notion that a problem exists and that this is the solution to that problem.
[via Reuters]
1. Jobs will not let that happen. He'll drop their content and give customers an easy way to e-mail their protests directly to Doug Moris. Hardball can be played by both sides and Apple doesn't need the iTunes Store revenue! As he rolls out his living room strategy next year it's likely Universal will not want to be left out. That negotiation will come before the music contract so it will set the terms.
Posted at 9:26PM on Nov 28th 2006 by Robert Boylin