Apple Offered Sony an ITunes Deal

[whooleytoo]

Macsurfer has a link to an ITworld.com story: apparently Apple offered to license to share the iTunes music store with Sony!

Pretty surprising news- and significent. This would have closed the door on Microsoft (and other music competitors) even further.

Personally, I'm happy to see Apple is open to options such as this - I wonder if the door will remain open, given how unlikely it is that Sony's service will succeed!

[musicpyrite]

Originally Posted by whooleytoo

apparently Apple offered to license to share the iTunes music store with Apple!

OMG! Apple sharing with Apple? How could this be?



I'm glad Apple didn't share it with Sony. iTMS is doing fine with out Sony.

[Darwin]

Originally Posted by musicpyrite

OMG! Apple sharing with Apple? How could this be?

lol

I guess this is evidence to guys like M$ & Real that Apple does sometimes let people in on its plan

Also there was that deal with McDonalds too, that went well too

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by musicpyrite

OMG! Apple sharing with Apple? How could this be?

<action="watchOnChain.wave()"> I actually said "Sony".. you never saw me write "Apple"...

Originally Posted by musicpyrite

I'm glad Apple didn't share it with Sony. iTMS is doing fine with out Sony.

It's doing great so far. And even though Microsoft's entry doesn't look the greatest yet - it still could succeed just as it's going to be installed on a lot of PCs by default.

[Brother Michael]

Personally, I think that would be a smart move by both Sony and Apple.

I am not about to count Sony out. While I personally do not like the current Sony mp3 player to say that they have no chance is absolute bunk.

Sony was the one who created the handheld walkman devices that everything is a clone of today. Every product I have ever purchased from Sony I have liked (my headphones that I use in my computer and will use in my iPod are Sony Headphones).

Try to think outside the box here for a minute. This could be mean there could be bigger things at stake here besides the portable music service.

Where do you think XBox2 customers are going to be able to purchase music to play right on their XBox while playing their favorite games?

Now what if the Playstation3 had integrated iTunes software? That is all the more sales for the iTunes Music Store.

So like I said this is different from Real and Microsoft. I would love to see Sony teamed up with Apple. I think that the two would make a good combo. And if Sony made iPod speakers I would buy them in a heartbeat.

Try not to allow yourselves to think one dimensional...cooperation can be a good thing, epecially when dealing with the likes of Microsoft. Apple obviously sees something of value in Sony thus so can I.

Mike

[space2go]

The talks prolly ended shortly after a question like this:

Sony: "Is the only supported song format some version of ATRAC or do you plan to switch to only supporting it?"

[Freg3000]

From MacMinute:

Jobs is reported to have wanted to bring the Sony brand into the service to maintain a competitive advantage over Microsoft

Just from that perspective, I am a little glad this didn't happen. Presenting the iTunes - Sony Music Store?

[swissmann]

Sony missed out. Hope their music store dies.

[jrober]

Folks,

The deal with Sony might not be limited to that discussed above. It could be on one or many facets. e.g.
iTunes on Sony PC's (Like HP one)
iTunes on other Sony products (PS/2/P etc)
iTunes compatibility with Sony Ericcsson phones
Sony players compatible with iTunes
Sony music in iTunes library

I think such a linkup is very interesting but Sony may think that being the size they are they can go it alone.

[Brother Michael]

Originally Posted by jrober

Folks,

The deal with Sony might not be limited to that discussed above. It could be on one or many facets. e.g.
iTunes on Sony PC's (Like HP one)
iTunes on other Sony products (PS/2/P etc)
iTunes compatibility with Sony Ericcsson phones
Sony players compatible with iTunes
Sony music in iTunes library

I think such a linkup is very interesting but Sony may think that being the size they are they can go it alone.

Very true. Sony is a huge company. There is a much better profit margin, exposure margin, market share, etc, etc. for Apple to team up with Sony besides just the portable music industry.

To me this looks like a much better deal than teaming up with Real. Sony has so much more to offer Apple.

Mike

[BornAgainMac]

That was around the time that there was rumors of a Apple buyout from Sony. So it was really just a partnership for selling music.

[MorganX]

Too bad it didn't go through. But it is good to see the leadership at Apple opening up, a bit.

[wPod]

does this mean steve is worried about m$ competition in the music dling business?

[jeffbax]

I don't care much, it would be cool to get more Sony tracks on iTunes I guess, but I don't really use ITMS and I think Sony products are pretty damn crap-tacular and would never buy them to begin with so no bid deal here for me.

[dcentity2000]

As someone who used to work for both Bang & Olufsen and an even more expensive A/V establishment (£13,000 cinema sound setup anyone?) I have to say that this would have been a bad idea. Sony and music do NOT mix - we refused to stock any Sony simply because it always sounded cheap and tacky - Sony, you see, regard "subtle bass" as a kind of fish and "fidelity" as a type of guitar. ATRAC has to be the most Godawful compression format I've ever come accross, especially when compared to AAC which I cannot praise enough! Still, give me an LP anytime for simple musicality...

Anyone who enjoys Sony has probably never listened to anything better (Cyrus, Rega, Tag, B&O, B&W, Lynn, even Yamaha Pro and Bose!) and probably was first in line to ask the question: Does it have bass?

And by the way, WMA made me shudder too. Put on some BOSE Noise Cancelling headphones or some B&O A8s at the minimum (pref. Sennheiser or Grado) and you can tell the difference! ATRAC is pretty much an MP3 with various holes, WMA is fudgy one second and then razored the next, whilst AAC is, whilst not as good as an uncompressed file, actually ok.

To hell with Sony. They've had their turn.



Rich::

[rueyeet]

Sony is notorious for proprietary formats that don't ever gain mass-market acceptance. Memory Sticks, MiniDiscs, and ATRAC all failed to catch on in any more than a niche following. Yet Sony sticks with them, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.

Still, after they see the quarterly numbers from Sony Connect, and compare and contrast them with Real, Napster, Microsoft, Wall-Mart, and most of all, iTunes, they surely won't be very happy. Whether they will attribute that unhappiness to the decision to go it solo is another matter.

[Doctor Q]

Originally Posted by rueyeet

Sony is notorious for proprietary formats that don't ever gain mass-market acceptance. Memory Sticks, MiniDiscs, and ATRAC all failed to catch on in any more than a niche following. Yet Sony sticks with them, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.

Correct, and they hold on even when the format no longer has the technical merits. Oddly enough, Beta videotape format had advantages over VHS (other than total recording time on a tape), but they couldn't lead that standard to victory.

Once again, they show their tendency to go it alone.

[sushi]

Originally Posted by rueyeet

Sony is notorious for proprietary formats that don't ever gain mass-market acceptance. Memory Sticks, MiniDiscs, and ATRAC all failed to catch on in any more than a niche following. Yet Sony sticks with them, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.

Depends on how you look at the market.

In Japan, MiniDiscs rule. They are everywhere. Sony, and other companies, are very successful with their MD products.

Memory Sticks and ATRAC do well over here as well.

Sushi

[t300]

Sony's new music player doesn't even play MP3's or any other useful music file type, like AAC. It plays that stupid, a*s backwards ATRAC crap. Ew.

Sony and Apple would be a nice match, though.

[Porchland]

Originally Posted by jet3004

Sony and Apple would be a nice match, though.

I've always thought Sony and Apple had a very similar aesthetic: well-designed, intuitive devices and a very polished, clean corporate image.

[Xtremehkr]

Wow, first they continue to try and peddle the MiniDisc player as a viable competitor to the iPod and now they turn down this opportunity?

I guess Sony has pretty massive investment in the MiniDisc players. I have heard all sorts of complaints about the new Sony service though. The format the music is in is limited to Sony equipment and the quality is nothing close to Apple.

I used to really like Sony, I mean, I grew up with a Walkman and thought that they were one of the coolest companies ever. They're being a bit stubborn about this, they should follow HPs lead and recognize a good thing.

[destroyboredom]

For some reason the fact that Sony didn't do this really doesn't suprise me. They always have to do there own thing. Just look at memory stick...and now they have there own format (ATRAC) that no one likes. I think this decision is going to hurt them

[Brother Michael]

Again where does it state that they turned the offer down?

Mike

[Porchland]

Originally Posted by addisonx

I am pretty sure that the editorial policy of major publications (such as Time) state that a proper name must begin with a capital letter. Hence, ITunes, IMac, etc.

I doubt it. Most media outlets either follow the AP Stylebook or their own stylebook to address that sort of thing. IIRC, AP style for product names is to use the capitalization convention of the product. I'm pretty sure when Time magazine discusses the iPod, it's with a little "i."

[hulugu]

Originally Posted by addisonx

I am pretty sure that the editorial policy of major publications (such as Time) state that a proper name must begin with a capital letter. Hence, ITunes, IMac, etc.

There are exceptions for trade-names, I believe Time called the iMac such when the lamp 'flower' version debuted; this is according to their website.

I'd be very happy if Sony and Apple teamed up in a similar way to the HP/Apple deal, maybe Sony could abandon parts of the VAIO or stop selling x86 machines and become an 'Apple' by Sony company. That, or maybe abandon Connect and deal with iTunes, so that iTunes does work with the MiniDisc. That would be a huge coup, and would be a nice bulwark against Microsoft.
But, as I understand it the Sony Execs don't really like Jobs.
Maybe Jobs has grown up a little.