Rumor places Jay-Z and Apple in record label deal
Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z may be on the verge of launching a new record label in concert with Apple Inc. where music releases would take place on the iPod maker's iTunes download service, according to rumors published this week by one blog site.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, is the former president and CEO of the widely successful Def Jam Records, having just recently stepped down from the label when his contract expired on December 31, 2007.
"Iâve been incredibly fortunate to have served as President of such a culturally-defining label as Def Jam over the last three years," the 38-year old rapper said in a statement published last month. "But now itâs time for me to take on new challenges."
Though earlier reports had suggested that Jay-Z would be making a transition to the urban division of Sony Records, the Boy Genius Report claims instead that it has "just about confirmed" he'll be teaming with Apple on an unprecedented digital label venture.
Apple last February settled a long-running legal dispute with The Beatles' record label, Apple Corps, which appears to have cleared the iTunes operator of any restrictions that would have prevented it from delving further into the music business.
Under the terms of that settlement, Apple received the rights to all trademarks relating to "Apple" and agreed to license those marks back Apple Corps for their continued use.
It should be noted, however, that rumors of a Jay-Z's partnership with Apple come less than two months after the rapper issued a statement sternly opposing the company's iTunes distribution model. In it, he explained that his new album, American Gangster, would not be made available on the Apple download service due to the Cupertino-based company's policy of allowing iTunes shoppers to purchase individual songs rather than restricting sales to full albums.
"As movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles," he said.
26 Comments
Interesting, we'll see.
would this be DRM'd, I wonder? The story doesn't mention.
Jay-Z not selling songs on itunes - Dang it.
Oh wait I thought it might actually be an "artist" I gave a rip about hearing.. Never mind
You're missing the point. It's not about what you care about. He's a pretty popular music personality. If he does a deal directly with Apple, and it succeeds, others would likely follow. It's even possible that there are some musicians who you do like who would consider this, if it's successful.
Jay-Z not selling songs on itunes - Dang it.
Oh wait I thought it might actually be an "artist" I gave a rip about hearing.. Never mind
To me, the interesting thing in this story is not Jay-Z's music, but the idea of a new record label teamed with and possibly based on Apple and iTunes.
That would be something new and it would definately be interesting to see how that played out--regardless of whether you were interested in the music or not.
I've always thought that Apple running its own label was the next logical extension of the iTunes Universe. If there are no legal restrictions, why not? They sign enough good artists, offer them fair terms, and we could see a true music revolution here.
Of course, this would only anger the establishment even more, prompting more labels to threaten leaving iTunes. But I honestly don't see how the major labels can survive without iTunes in the long run. CDs are going away very soon. Unless someone finally comes along and gives Apple real competition (Amazon, maybe?), but even then the labels need some sort of legal digital distribution to survive. And that means giving up the fat profits of over-priced CDs and ending the senseless billion-dollar promotions of garbage music like Britney Spears.
It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out.