Andre Yoskowitz
4 Jul 2007 10:16
In an update to our report here, Apple is denying the published reports and says instead that Universal has not informed them of such a decision. "We are still negotiating with Universal," says Apple representative Tom Neumayr, speaking in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. "Their music is still on iTunes and their not re-signing is just not true." Universal however, has not responded with any statements of their own.
Tony Berkman, an analyst at Majestic Research, says Universal holding out on a new contract could be partially blamed on widespread complaints within the industry. "The music industry has been frustrated with Apple for some time because they feel (Apple) has a veritable monopoly on downloading music," says Berkman. "For a while, Apple had all the leverage and could dictate the terms to the publishers." Currently, iTunes has a 70 percent market share of the online digital distribution business, swiftly beating out all competition.
Allan Klepfisz, CEO of Qtrax says that Apple and the music industry are for now, linked. "As much power as they might be perceived to have, Apple needs the record labels and the record labels need Apple. But it's a mistake for anybody to think the record labels need Apple more than Apple needs the record labels."
Source:
MacNN