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Apple
iTunes, leader of the pack in music downloads, adds clout to the iCloud negotiations
As with all things in the Apple family, convenience and innovation come at a price, and iCloud will be no different, with a $25 annual subscription after a free trial period.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the cloud music service will debut after Apple wraps up its negotiations with major record labels and music publishers, which should be by today. Earlier this week, Apple revealed it will unveil iCloud next week.
The revenue sharing splits that will come out of the wheeling and dealing: Apple will "share 70 percent of any revenue from iCloud's music service with record labels, as well as 12 percent with music publishers holding the songwriting rights. Apple is expected to keep the remaining 18 percent, said people knowledgeable with the terms."
Apple's clout through iTunes, which commands the music download market, is evident through the labels that have agreed to work with them on iCloud: Warner Music Group, EMI Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.
Despite the presence of movies, TV shows, games and apps on iTunes, music still dominates, with a recent NPD report showing more than half of those who use it buy music exclusively.
The iCloud will be the latest product that offers music-on-the-go, available online or through a phone app. The Amazon Cloud Player, which gives 5GB free and 20GB with the purchase of an MP3 album, came out in March and Music Beta by Google invites went out last month.
More on iCloud:
- Apple's invisible data center finally appears on Google Earth
- Live chat: What's so cool about 'the cloud'
- iCloud: Why Apple must go big in the sky
- Steve Jobs expected to unveil iCloud storage service
Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is using Amazon Cloud Player, invited to Music Beta and will no doubt also check out iCloud when it comes out.
Leave a Comment:
This is lame. Leave it to Apple to give nothing for free. All other services give some storage for free. Get out of bed with the Recording Industry Steve Jobs
Boo-F@*%inkg-Hoo...They want a measly $2 a month to store your entire music collection and allow you access to it from anywhere in the world. Some people would cry if you gave them a winning lottery ticket because they would have to pay the taxes on the winnings. Crawl back into your hole.
I agree, there are people out there that think everything should just be handed to them free. One is currently running the country.
Google has my entire music collection.. and I can listen to it anywhere in the world on any of my android devices (phone / tablet)..
for free. :)
Lame? Really? $25 a year to store all the music you can throw at it? I would have paid the $99 that some were claiming would be the annual cost. I own well over 3000 CDs worth of music, all of which is encoded at 320kbp/48khz. AND if the cloud will store wav files, I might throw those over as well for select CDs. $25 a year is nothing. Not to mention that it's a great way to back up your music collection on the chance that something happens to it.
I wonder if it is going to be something where it only allows streaming of legally purchased music from the cloud. Like if you have songs in your iTunes library that you ripped or "obtained" otherwise, would they be mirrored in the cloud?
I don't mind putting music or pictures on the "cloud" services, no way I would ever store critical documents or information there. I wouldn't trust anything being secure on the internet.
The cons may become public access. The pros may be safer in case of any emergency and retrievable any time from any where.
Sorry folks but I'm confused and would appreciate it if someone could help me out here. My questions are:
1. Say you upload 1000 tracks you digitized from comercial compact discs that you own. You pay $25 a year to do this. Then what is all the talk about Apple gets 12%, Pubs get 12%, and the balance goes to the labels. Are they talking about divying up the $25 annual fee or is the other costs involved
2. Similar to question #2 is this a Cloud service that allows you to store your music and music you purchased from iTunes in a virtual locker only or does it include a service that allows you to strean from itunes' complete catalog of music for a monthly fee?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Abbie
And no one is moved by the fact that the publishers are getting 70%? Really??? Do we all just love these corporations and their CEOs *that* much?!?!?