p2pnet.net News:- Bill and the Boyz are to give Vivendi Universal, a member of the Big Four Organized Music family, a cut from each new Zune digital music player sold.

“Universal said it was only fair to receive payment on devices that may be repositories for stolen music,” says The New York Times, and, “The groundbreaking deal could redefine the digital music business pioneered by Apple Computer Inc,” says Reuters.

In reality, Apple had absolutely nothing to do with pioneering the music business. That distinction goes wholly to the original Napster and Kazaa p2p file sharing applications, the remnants of which are now, to all intents and purposes, Big Four sales and distribution vehicles, and to independently created commercial p2p applications such as Morpheus, LimeWire, Grokster, Blubster, BearShare, Warez P2P, et al.

Madonna, maybe?

Microsoft has also had “early talks” with other labels about the fee and is “keen to work closely with artists in the development of Zune,” says Reuters.

Universal owns U2, but Apple boss Steve Jobs and Bono already have a deep and meaningful financial relationship. Does anyone know who Bill Gates’ favourite band and/or singer is? Not that it matters because the other three members of Organized Music are Warner Music, EMI and Sony BMG, all of whom have rafts of suitable artists available. Madonna, maybe?

Be that as it may, “Microsoft is trying to break into an industry closely aligned with archival Apple,” says the story. “But Apple does not give a cut of sales of iPods to music companies. It only pays labels for songs sold on its iTunes music store.”

Meanwhile, Universal says it’ll pay half of what it gets from the Microsoft deal to its artists, says The New York Times, stating, “The company is expected to receive more than $1 for each $250 device, according to executives who were briefed on the pact.”

‘We’ve come out on the short end’

The accord may also, “represent a sea change in the dynamics between technology developers and the media companies that provide the content that plays on their devices,” says the story.

“It illustrates how music companies are scrambling to attach themselves to fast-developing online businesses. The move also reflects Universal’s recognition that, for all the runaway success of gadgets like the iPod, consumers are still not buying enough digital music to make up for declining sales of music on compact disk.”

And Universal chairman Doug Morris, “has been increasingly vocal about securing compensation for the company’s music,” says the NYT, quoting him as saying:

“I’m hopeful that technology companies and creative companies will understand how each other’s futures are intertwined. It can only work if one doesn’t try and take advantage of the other, and so far we’ve come out on the short end.”

‘Thieves’ and ‘criminals’

Morris has nothing to say about the customers, the people who keep him and others of his ilk fat and happy and who are, of course, the only ones really getting the short end.

Vivendi, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner are suing their customers as fast as they can find them, accusing them of being “criminals” for sharing music with each other.

Why do that? Because, say the Big Four, shared music boils down to lost sales, meaning anyone, man, woman or child, who shares with someone else is a thief who deserves to be fined and jailed …

… unless he or she buys Big Four product, as they correctly call their grotesquely overpriced formulaic music. And only Big Four product.

Also See:
The New York Times – Microsoft Strikes Deal for Music, November 9, 2006
Reuters – Microsoft to pay Universal for every Zune sold, November 8, 2006

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 9th, 2006 at 11:36 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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