Apple, Universal and Microsoft

[MacRumors]

Rumors of Apple buying Universal Music spread quickly across the Mac Web yesterday...

The New York Post reports that Microsoft has also expressed interest in buying Vivendi's Universal Music Group:

Microsoft's interest is said to be at the level of "poking around, kicking the tires," but it has indeed had conversations with Vivendi executives about buying the music division, sources said.

While, according to the Post, Apple appears more seriously interested in the purchase, this New York Times article claims that according to their sources -- the Apple-Universal deal was "unlikely to be concluded":

The talks between Apple and Vivendi covered the concept of buying as much as a third of the music unit, according to people close to the discussions. But the talks appear to have been just exploratory discussions that did not go far.

 

[amnesiac1984]

Oh dear, this may not be good for apples future plans.!!!

 

[makkystyle]

I really hope something comes of this, if only because it would be very interesting to see what apple would do with the company.

 

[pseudobrit]

Great, MS is trying to buy all the music in the world now too...

I see pay-per-play CDs around the corner if that happens. It's not beneath MS, that's for sure.

Can you imagine having to call MS to get your serial number reactivated on your U2 CD because you've reinstalled Media Player?

Ooh the possibilities are endless...

 

[pyrotoaster]

Microsoft copying Apple? No way!

Apple's stock did take a major hit after the speculation about buying Universal started. If SJ wasn't seriously interested, he would've quit then.

 

[nuckinfutz]

hmm interesting.

6 Billion to Microsoft is just change in the Couch.

I don't fear Microsoft purchasing UMG but you know if they do it'll be used to further WM9 and that sucks.

 

[pimentoLoaf]

Microsoft has the money for a buyout, Apple doesn't. If this doesn't break Apple, I'd be surprised.

 

[jiggie2g]

GO Tommy Motolla

If this Rumor happens to come to life then Apple should Hire former Sony/ Columbia Records CEO Tommy Motolla since he is pretty much a Free Agent now , think about it Tommy has over 13yrs in the business as a Proven CEO , let's face it Steve Jobs is a brillant mind but he knows crap about running a record company and that takes a certain kind of person , a cut throat of some sort inorder to prosper in the Shady(not shady as in Eminem) Music Industry , so while Tommy Runs the music division Jobs can keep focus on whats important and that's Apple Computers . Jobs can rest easy knowing that the company is in good hands. Jobs should really make this move trust me as smart as he is, he does not want to deal with the Million and One Bullsh*t Artist music Executives All alone. This is Just Food for thought you do this dishes.

 

[d.f]

Re: GO Tommy Motolla

Originally posted by jiggie2g
If this Rumor happens to come to life then Apple should Hire former Sony/ Columbia Records CEO Tommy Motolla since he is pretty much a Free Agent now , think about it Tommy has over 13yrs in the business as a Proven CEO , let's face it Steve Jobs is a brillant mind but he knows crap about running a record company and that takes a certain kind of person , a cut throat of some sort inorder to prosper in the Shady(not shady as in Eminem) Music Industry , so while Tommy Runs the music division Jobs can keep focus on whats important and that's Apple Computers . Jobs can rest easy knowing that the company is in good hands. Jobs should really make this move trust me as smart as he is, he does not want to deal with the Million and One Bullsh*t Artist music Executives All alone. This is Just Food for thought you do this dishes.

You wouldn't leave Tommy in charge of your 6 Billion dollar investment. honestly, the guy is insane. not to go off topic, but he was renowned as being lazy, not cost effective, arrogant, out of touch (the guy passed on the chance of buying Def Jam and Interscope at a cheap price. the artists on those rosta's included Eminem, Dr Dre, Marylin Manson, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Limp Bizkit, Ja Rule.... the reason was he didn't think Hip Hop was going to be big....), and invovled with some very very nasty people. So, i pray if all this goes ahead Steve will put ANYONE else in charge of UMG

IMHO

 

[BillyShears]

Originally posted by pseudobrit
Great, MS is trying to buy all the music in the world now too...

I see pay-per-play CDs around the corner if that happens. It's not beneath MS, that's for sure.

Can you imagine having to call MS to get your serial number reactivated on your U2 CD because you've reinstalled Media Player?

Ooh the possibilities are endless...

So if Apple tries to buy a music company, they are fine, but if Microsoft LOOKS at buying a music company, now they are trying to buy all the music in the world?

 

[j763]

I think that Microsoft is most probably only there to force Apple to pay more for UMG...

re the post before this one:

If Microsoft were to buy UMG, they would most likely launch a pay-per-play system, which would suck ass. That's just the way they play their business.

 

[boobers]

M$ wannabes

This is so rediculous. Why can't they come up with their own dumb ideas instead of stealing SJ's. Gates must have a corporate Spy in Cupertino. Microsoft is so weak.

 

[ColdZero]

This is so rediculous. Why can't they come up with their own dumb ideas instead of stealing SJ's. Gates must have a corporate Spy in Cupertino. Microsoft is so weak.

I'm sorry I must have missed the info that says Apple was looking at this first, could you tell me where it is? Or even that the rumors are true that Apple or Microsoft is even truly looking at buying UMG? So just because a rumor that Apple is looking at UMG comes out 2 or 3 days ago means that all of a sudden Microsoft is copying them if they even glance in the direction of a rumor. A 6 Billion buyout by Apple is not gonna happen, they don't have the cash to buy that and still have enough left over....Microsoft on the other hand does have the money.

 

[MisterMe]

Originally posted by ColdZero
I'm sorry I must have missed the info that says Apple was looking at this first, could you tell me where it is? Or even that the rumors are true that Apple or Microsoft is even truly looking at buying UMG? So just because a rumor that Apple is looking at UMG comes out 2 or 3 days ago means that all of a sudden Microsoft is copying them if they even glance in the direction of a rumor. A 6 Billion buyout by Apple is not gonna happen, they don't have the cash to buy that and still have enough left over....Microsoft on the other hand does have the money.

The latest rumors are that Apple will not buy Universal Music Group. However, lack of cash on Apple's part has very little to do with it. By corporate standards, Apple has more than ample resources to complete the deal. However, these big purchases are rarely cash transactions. In fact, much larger corporate buy-outs have been done by investors with a lot fewer resources than are available to Apple. Ever heard of the leveraged buy-out? If you can find a willing seller and can demonstrate the ability to pay the service on your debt, you can buy anything. If the seller is not willing, you can still make the deal in a hostile takeover.

 

[MorganX]

Re: M$ wannabes

Originally posted by boobers
This is so rediculous. Why can't they come up with their own dumb ideas instead of stealing SJ's. Gates must have a corporate Spy in Cupertino. Microsoft is so weak.

FWIW, Microsoft has been mulling buying Vivendi's Interactive division for over 6 months at least...

Microsoft would be mostly interested in Blizzard. Making Blizzard titles X-box exclusive might be a big deal to MS. Especially with Starcraft:Ghost coming and looking good! It will raise the bar for the genre and probably spinoff a movie.

 

[NavyIntel007]

Why are there people backing up M$ in this forum? Do you guys realize that if M$ gets the largest record company in the world you can kiss your Fair Usage of CDs goodbye. They won't work on Apple, Linux, Unix, hell they probably won't play in older CD players which will make you have to buy a new one... nothing but windows. That scares the hell out of me. I seriously hope the Judicial system and the SEC can grow some balls and tell M$ absolutely not.

Makes me want to call Kim Jung Ill and say "hey buddy, there's a nice town in Washington State called Redmond. Why don't you throw your nuke that way."

 

[pseudobrit]

Originally posted by NavyIntel007
Makes me want to call Kim Jung Ill and say "hey buddy, there's a nice town in Washington State called Redmond. Why don't you throw your nuke that way."

Now there's a unilateral action we can all agree on!

BTW, how long before MS becomes its own superpower? Seriously, they could arm themselves pretty well, couldn't they?

 

[NavyIntel007]

Microsoft is it's own Weapon of Mass Distruction. I hope they self distruct.

 

[MacCoaster]

Originally posted by NavyIntel007
Why are there people backing up M$ in this forum? Do you guys realize that if M$ gets the largest record company in the world you can kiss your Fair Usage of CDs goodbye. They won't work on Apple, Linux, Unix, hell they probably won't play in older CD players which will make you have to buy a new one... nothing but windows. That scares the hell out of me. I seriously hope the Judicial system and the SEC can grow some balls and tell M$ absolutely not.

Makes me want to call Kim Jung Ill and say "hey buddy, there's a nice town in Washington State called Redmond. Why don't you throw your nuke that way."

So what? There are several other major players in the Recording industry. If Microsoft makes this move and if consumers become pissed off, the consumers will simply buy from the other players. Microsoft isn't full of stupid executives as people would like it to be. This kind of thing won't happen overnight like people would like to believe.

Apple simply doesn't have enough money. Microsoft does.

Besides, what stopped the government from approving Microsoft, Bungie buyout? In fact, just buying Bungie didn't make Microsoft a monopoly of games overnight, did it? No. They're still planning to ship Halo for Mac OS X last time I checked.

Oh yeah, let's be insincere to people of Silicon Valley and nuke them.

 

[NavyIntel007]

Originally posted by MacCoaster
So what? There are several other major players in the Recording industry. If Microsoft makes this move and if consumers become pissed off, the consumers will simply buy from the other players. Microsoft isn't full of stupid executives as people would like it to be. This kind of thing won't happen overnight like people would like to believe.

Apple simply doesn't have enough money. Microsoft does.

Besides, what stopped the government from approving Microsoft, Bungie buyout? In fact, just buying Bungie didn't make Microsoft a monopoly of games overnight, did it? No. They're still planning to ship Halo for Mac OS X last time I checked.

Oh yeah, let's be insincere to people of Silicon Valley and nuke them.

Majority of consumers are not aware that they have any other choice. They will continue to be bullied around by Microsoft shrinking market presence by anyone else. Microsoft has been nuking people in every single industry for years. More and more out of work programmers, squashed ideas and dreams. You ever seen 1984? It's happening, now. And it's not the government, it's corperate america. So while you swear to the legitimacy of microsoft, their business model is shrinking the opportunity of all our lives. If microsoft isn't stopped, your freedom of choice will be taken away from you right under your nose. And then when you realize it's gone and want to do something about it, you won't have a choice.

You call us insensitive? What would you say to Steve Balmer? After all, he bullies us around every day of our lives. And he wouldn't think twice about nuking the valley so that microsoft can press even further.

 

[BillyShears]

Originally posted by NavyIntel007
Why are there people backing up M$ in this forum? Do you guys realize that if M$ gets the largest record company in the world you can kiss your Fair Usage of CDs goodbye. They won't work on Apple, Linux, Unix, hell they probably won't play in older CD players which will make you have to buy a new one... nothing but windows. That scares the hell out of me. I seriously hope the Judicial system and the SEC can grow some balls and tell M$ absolutely not.

Makes me want to call Kim Jung Ill and say "hey buddy, there's a nice town in Washington State called Redmond. Why don't you throw your nuke that way."

What gives you the impression they will alter how CDs work to only work on Windows based devices?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Originally posted by BillyShears
What gives you the impression they will alter how CDs work to only work on Windows based devices?

"Would" instead of "will," to be more precise; and because that's their business model.

 

[thies]

not that anyone has yet shown me that Apple will not somehow **** around with how music is licensed. It certainly wouldn't be a "take the music you'd buy on this CD through a download for 1$ and do as you please" as their shareholders would simply kill them for throwing money out the window like that.

 

[NavyIntel007]

Originally posted by BillyShears
What gives you the impression they will alter how CDs work to only work on Windows based devices?

There are CD's already like this in production. Massive Attack "100th Window" is one of them.

Take the PocketPC devices. Does microsoft let you sync them with Mac? with Linux?

edit: to add to this I would buy a PocketPC if I didn't have to spend another $80 to try to get it to sync with my mac. So no sale there. Making products that are more accessable to people's lifestyles is the way Microsoft should sell, not this you can have this but you also need to buy this, this and this. No thanks.

 

[cubist]

This is not an anti-Microsoft thread, but I would like to point out something...

A couple of years ago someone wondered in print "what happened to the fun in this industry that we had back in 1983?" The answer is, Microsoft. If you look at magazines from 1983 and older, there were dozens of vendors of any given product. There was life and verve in the industry. Back then, if you went to a Microsoft presentation, they showed third-party partners.

Not today. You won't see any third-party partners featured at any Microsoft presentation. They have assimilated the ones they liked; the others they froze out by deliberate effort.

Some might say this is natural in the maturation of industry; but not even Standard Oil did the brutish thuggery that Microsoft did. The government has rolled over. Now it is up to each of us as consumers (those of us who still have jobs in high-tech) to each exact our personal revenge on Microsoft.

And exact it we shall.