Josh OngAccording to people familiar with the matter, Apple is in talks with music companies, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group, to change its download policy to provide greater flexibility to iTunes customers, Bloomberg said on Thursday.
An updated agreement, which sources said could come as early as the middle of this year, would allow users to re-download purchased music, even after losing the original copies. Currently, Apple's iTunes Music Store does not offer free re-downloads of previously purchased music.
The service would allow downloads to iPads, iPhones and iPods linked to the same iTunes account, the report claimed, adding that such a move would be "a step closer to universal access to content centrally stored on the Internet." Apple has also "weighed plans" to revamp its MobileMe online storage service later this year, said one source.
Rumors of a centralized streaming media service from Apple through iTunes and MobileMe have persisted for years, gaining strength on news that Apple planned to spend over $1 billion on a massive data center in North Carolina.
Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer revealed last month that the center will indeed be used for iTunes and MobileMe when it opens this spring. The server farm had originally been slated for completion by the end of 2010.
One recent report has suggested that Apple is planning a MobileMe digital online "locker" that would grant users access to their files, while a separate rumor claimed that iTunes media would be stored on a home computer and streamed over the Internet to connected devices.
Over the years, Apple has sought to leverage its continued success with the iTunes Music Store to negotiate more favorable contracts with the record companies. For example, Apple was successful in reaching a deal to remove DRM copy protections from iTunes music purchases in exchange for a variable pricing model.
More recently, Apple negotiated the extension of iTunes music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds.
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33 Comments
That would be great actually. I hear a lot of complaints about that one. I nod understandingly, but of course what I am thinking is that they need to cotton on to the fact that digital files are valuable things these days and make backups.
Apple already does this they just don't advertise it. If you're hard drive dies and you contact support they will give you a special link which will redownload everything you have purchased from itunes store.
I've seen it done.
Actually, I don't think it's a "right" that the labels can negotiated away. There are copyright-related fee's mandated by law, that must be paid per song to the performer/s and/or the composer/song writer/s. They were mandated because the major labels were so blatantly raping both groups, that the federal government had to step in and force the labels pay SOMETHING to these groups.
Unfortunately, in this specific case [downloading 'new' copies from Apple would result in these fee's being required to be paid]. Now, if there were some roundabout way to transfer the song from 'Apple' to 'your locker', say part of your MobileMe account [with some kind of legal separation], then Apple would not need to negotiate anything with the labels, as it would be legally permitted under copyright law, AFTER the sale of the song to the individual.
Of course, the labels will continue to have their hand out, wanting you to pay extra for something you already have the right to do. And this extra payment will go straight to the 'profit' accounting column at the labels...
I've often wished I could have re-downloaded some iTunes purchases!
This would be great news if true.