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Universal May Want Money From iPods

WAIT! WAIT!

This could be a good thing!

I would pay a dollar to fill up my new iPod with music. :D

"These [digital music player] devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it," Morris was quoted as saying at the time. "So it's time to get paid for it.
 
I think it is a Great idea!!!

Apple will give Universal $1 from every iPod sold, since the iPod is used to store stolen Universal tracks.

In turn, Universal will give Apple $5 from every overpriced CD sold because they're only buying that CD so they can rip it into iTunes/iPod ecosystem.
 
dougny said:
They aren't. The entire music business revenues are down 40% since 2001. Sales are down hugely. I can tell you from representing these artists that all the money is down too.

Are you spending as much on music as you did years ago?
Click to expand...

Actually, moreso, as I've been picking up more small time bands and getting legal copies of my older stuff pre-iPod ownership.

But honestly, like many have said, most of the new stuff out sucks.
 
Sounds like Universal is realizing that their anticipated cash influx they were hoping to see from Zune sales isn't going to materialize, so they're looking to leech off a player that will actually be AROUND in 2007.
 
Universal?

In the 70's:

Universal makes "Battlestar Galactica", and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", fun Sci-Fi shows.

In the 90's and early 00's:

USA Networks launches the Scifi Channel. They get great shows such as "Stargate SG-1" and "Farscape". USA Network has some great shows as well, "Monk", "The Dead Zone", "Peacemakers"

That was then....

This is now...

NBC has nothing but crap and gets jeleous of cable networks such as USA.

NBC/Universal buys USA Networks.

NBC/Universal cancels the last season of "Farscape", and the new western, "Peacemakers". They attempt to cancel "Monk" and "The Dead Zone", but to no avail. They also attempt to cancel "Stargate SG-1" and replace it with "Stargate Atlantis", this fails too.

NBC/Universal "retells" "Battlestar Galactica" - sorry, it's all about skin and a drunk Col. Tigh - junk.

NBC/Universal now is "cleaning up" the Scifi Channel by putting on on its own shows, "Eureka" (it is good though).

NBC/Universal is cancelling "Stargate SG-1", at a con, one of its actors did mention that "Universal did let it go on for another 5 seasons".

NBC/Universal's #1 show on the Sci-Fi channel is Wrestling....

Universal is good for what again???

(note: I might have my timing off, like the Farscape cancellation, but I think Scifi might have seen it coming with that series cancellation).
 
KipCoon said:
most of the new stuff out sucks.
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I agree. I am SICK AND TIRED of the music industry blaming lack of sales on piracy! Piracy is actually down from what it was a couple years ago but they still claim profits are worse now than ever.

Maybe if they didnt put out the same cookie-cutter bands year after year, album after album, put out albums with 9 good tracks instead on 1 good one with 15 filler pieces of crap sales might improve!

my $0.02
 
dougny said:
If all of you on here bought all of your music either from iTunes or from a record store, then, absolutely, complain away if that dollar is passed on to you. But, which is likely in just about every case, you have a few songs you burned off a friend's CD or downloaded from a file-sharing site, then shut up, you are the reason this is necessary.
Click to expand...

I guess I understand this. We all pay a little more on purchases to make up for shoplifting. But all of my music is legal, and I think this is a very bad move.

As others have pointed out, I doubt any of this money will actually end up in the hands of artists. And who decides which artists? And what about smaller labels? Nobody will be compensating them. My brother is unsigned. Who will pay him for the illegal copies of his music that I know exist? It seems to me, the artists getting the money (if any do) will be the ones that already sell the most and therefore are struggling the least.

To be clear, I strongly oppose stealing music. I also strongly oppose calling all music listeners thieves and charging us all for it. And I'm all for the blacklist, and I'll gladly tell Universal I'm through with their music!

Universal Music Group:
USA (212) 841 8000
France +33 1 44 41 91 91
UK +44 0 20 77 47 4000

feedback_fr@vivendi.com
 
NATO said:
So they say.... :rolleyes:
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Yes, Microsoft went to Universal, because Universal refused to allow their music to be added to the Microsoft Marketplace. Microsoft then offered the dollar to other companies.

Boycotting Universal and these companies is not the answer.

I recommend that we buy more music from the iTunes Music store and when it comes time for the new iTunes contract, Jobs will be able to present the numbers and then threaten to walk away from the table (I hate to call this the Walmart model, but when you selling more product than anyone else, you'll have to play ball). The industry will not risk losing a growing revenue strain.

There are currently over 67 million iPods out there. The music industry's accountants (notice that I specify their accountants) are not that stupid. They now that if 10% of those people buy one .99 song from iTunes a year, they'll make more money than they would if they imposed a $1.00 tax on every new media device sold.

And those are the numbers that Apple will present to them.
 
If Universal gets a royalty from every iPod, then I will help myself to Universal's music library. After all, isn't that what the fee is for?
 
dougny said:
No actually, I represent recording artists, songwriters and producers. I am on the other side usually trying to fight the labels for every nickle an artist can try to get. However, because of that, I am on the same page with them in trying to get my artists and writers compensated from a digital marketplace that only pays for a small percentage of the material transferred. My artists only get paid for between 10 - 20% of the digital material out there (the rest pirated), so, anywhere we can get some income, even if through this flawed iPod royalty, I support.

I am just sick of people who think that they have a right to free music. Why don't you all think you have a right to free computers, or free software. How dare Apple charge you for iLife?

If all of you on here bought all of your music either from iTunes or from a record store, then, absolutely, complain away if that dollar is passed on to you. But, which is likely in just about every case, you have a few songs you burned off a friend's CD or downloaded from a file-sharing site, then shut up, you are the reason this is necessary.
Click to expand...

I suspect you may be trolling, but this is the most moronic statement I've seen on a board for some time now.

If you actually knew anything about the ethos of MacRumors and its forums, you'd know that people who post here are quite vehemently anti-piracy. What's the betting you actually work for Universal or Microsoft and are being paid to post this nonsense? Pretty likely, I'd say.

Oh yeah - for anyone who thinks most music these days sucks, you're just looking in the wrong place. Major labels ceased to produce anything of worth quite some time ago. Dig a little deeper and there's a wealth of wonderful music being made right now (and over the last 10 years specifically).
 
To those saying they'll boycott, I'd just like to point out...

...Universal is by far the largest record label in the world, and those of you that say you don't listen to anyone of their artists might need to dig deeper into their subsidiaries, as just a few of the musicians in their stable are:


The Carpenters
Jimi Hendrix
Nikelback
Carole King
Andrea Bocell
Four Tops
Lionel Richie
Cat Stevens
The Jackson 5
The Andrews Sisters
Cradle of Filth
HIM
The Temptations
Diana Ross
Scissor Sisters
Boyz II Men
Patsy Cline
Joan Baez
Stevie Wonder
The Police
Bee Gees
Hanson
Marvin Gaye
Count Basie
Louis Armstrong
John Cale
The Roots
Elliott Smith
Frankie Valli
Beastie Boys
Roxy Music
Duke Ellington
Fairport Convention
John Williams
Anthrax
Cream
Hank Williams
Bananarama
Black Sabbath
Public Enemy
The Righteous Brothers
Jethro Tull
Jay-Z
Ella Fitzgerald
Prince
Judy Garland
James Brown
Buddy Holly
Bing Crosby
Bryan Adams
U2 (with their close ties to Apple...)
The Fat Boys
Peter Frampton
Elvis Costello
Billie Holiday
Mel Torme
Janet Jackson
Kraftwerk
Dresden Dolls
Willie Nelson
Soundgarden
Luciano Pavarotti
Megadeath
TV on the Radio
Van Morrison
Kanye West
The Killers
The Orb
Slayer
Bon Jovi
Aerosmith
Beck
Mariah Carey
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Nine Inch Nails
Keane
MIA
Primus
Wolfmother
Patti LaBelle
Get Up Kids
Paul Westerberg
Garbage
Dr. Dre
Cher
The Cure
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Blink 182
Peter Gabriel (a big Mac user!)
The Eagles
Guns 'n' Roses
Eminem
John Lennon
Elton John
Joni Mitchell
The Misfits
50 Cent
Marilyn Manson
Sigur Ros
Gwen Stefani
Nirvana
Snoop Dogg
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Who
XTC
Neil Young
Weezer


So I'm sure there's someone in that last that nearly all of us listen to regularly...
 
hold on....

Unspeaked said:
To those saying they'll boycott, I'd just like to point out...

...Universal is by far the largest record label in the world, and those of you that say you don't listen to anyone of their artists might need to dig deeper into their subsidiaries, as just a few of the musicians in their stable are:
So I'm sure there's someone in that last that nearly all of us listen to regularly...
Click to expand...

You posted a list of artist people will start to illegally copy if Universal starts to tax iPods....
 
"I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe not in the same way"

Well, I can't see why Universal wouldn't do that...getting paid money for doing nothing? Sure, I'll have some too.

But I can definitely see why Apple wouldn't do that. Universal could threaten to yank all their content from iTunes if Apple refuses but at this point that might hurt Universal more than Apple.
 
Here's my take.
I started a small record label with 3 signed artists. 2 have gone nowhere and probably won't. 1 has finished her debut release (look for Kyria -Whispers In The Dark on itunes!) and we are working on a follow up.
I write/perform the music and she writes lyrics and sings. We split ANY money coming in 45/45/10. 45% for her, 45% for me and 10% for the label.
We've sold a few hundred songs on itunes and have made a few hundred bucks from it.

I think that itunes is a boon for the music biz. But, now you have to have good songs and good artists to succeed. People will not buy 1 hit and 9 loads of crap anymore. Make the very best music, and people will buy it.

I don't want any tax on what might happen with something. What if the State gave you 25 speeding tickets and 40 parking tickets when you bought a new car? We all know that cars are just used for speeding and parking violations.

NOW, if Universal get's a cut from every ipod sold, we would want a cut too (not as big of a cut, but still). Not to be greedy, but to be fair to my artists.
This is why it won't work. Too many independents that would want their piece too.

Oh ya, go buy Kyria's album on itunes! (If I was a big label, I could charge her for the time I took to post that as advertising expenses... broken is the music industry!)
 
milo said:
But I can definitely see why Apple wouldn't do that. Universal could threaten to yank all their content from iTunes if Apple refuses but at this point that might hurt Universal more than Apple.
Click to expand...

I don't know, see the list up above and tell me that it wouldn't hurt Apple to not have those artists available on the iTunes store (um, U2, anyone?).

Plus, if Universal pulled out, it would probably open the floodgates for other labels to threaten the same thing...

We might hate to admit it as Apple fans, but Apple needs the labels for the iTunes store to work just as much as the label needs Apple.
 
matticus008 said:
Just to be clear, this whole idea of collecting on music players is nothing short of outrageous. But it doesn't have the legal implications or weight that have been popularized here. They CAN have their cake and eat it, too, and they know it. That's why it's important for me to ensure that these false notions don't become ingrained as part of the Internet groupthink--when you step back into the real world, you'll be equally screwed, with or without this fee.
Click to expand...

I really don't harbor any hope that this could really be considered as royalty payment by the courts, it was just a little fantasy.

The real implication is on the moral front. You mentioned "group think" and I think that is the real danger for the record labels. If enough people were to convince themselves that the record label has grabbed enough money upfront, then they could step across the moral line that keeps them from piracy.

It's not law enforcement, or the actions of RIAA, that prevents the vast majority from crossing the line into piracy, it's their own built-in moral objection to it.

If the record labels remove this moral hurdle through their own actions, then there are not enough police officers, federal agencies, or private enforcement groups to even begin to stem the resulting piracy wave.
 
studiomusic said:
Here's my take.
I started a small record label with 3 signed artists. 2 have gone nowhere and probably won't. 1 has finished her debut release (look for Kyria -Whispers In The Dark on itunes!) and we are working on a follow up.
I write/perform the music and she writes lyrics and sings. We split ANY money coming in 45/45/10. 45% for her, 45% for me and 10% for the label.
We've sold a few hundred songs on itunes and have made a few hundred bucks from it.

I think that itunes is a boon for the music biz. But, now you have to have good songs and good artists to succeed. People will not buy 1 hit and 9 loads of crap anymore. Make the very best music, and people will buy it.

I don't want any tax on what might happen with something. What if the State gave you 25 speeding tickets and 40 parking tickets when you bought a new car? We all know that cars are just used for speeding and parking violations.

NOW, if Universal get's a cut from every ipod sold, we would want a cut too (not as big of a cut, but still). Not to be greedy, but to be fair to my artists.
This is why it won't work. Too many independents that would want their piece too.

Oh ya, go buy Kyria's album on itunes! (If I was a big label, I could charge her for the time I took to post that as advertising expenses... broken is the music industry!)
Click to expand...

Does she appear on emusic?
 
kresh said:
I really don't harbor any hope that this could really be considered as royalty payment by the courts, it was just a little fantasy.

The real implication is on the moral front. You mentioned "group think" and I think that is the real danger for the record labels. If enough people were to convince themselves that the record label has grabbed enough money upfront, then they could step across the moral line that keeps them from piracy.

It's not law enforcement, or the actions of RIAA, that prevents the vast majority from crossing the line into piracy, it's their own built-in moral objection to it.

If the record labels remove this moral hurdle through their own actions, then there are not enough police officers, federal agencies, or private enforcement groups to even begin to stem the resulting piracy wave.
Click to expand...


Uhhh... right. :eek:
 
I don't listen to anything that comes from that Universal Artists list shown above :)

Digitaljim said:
So Universal Music Group must have received something in the region of $112 so far from Zune sales.
Click to expand...

AHAHAHAHAHA

Metatron said:
You my friend, sound like a socialist...
Click to expand...

More like a Capitalist, he thinks they should get money, profit logic.

Universal is being greedy, they are entitled to 1$ per iPod the same way as I am, because after all, I'm advertising for Apple when I'm holding it in my hand right? It's just stupid beyond everything I've heard! And the artists will be the last ones to get even a glimpe of the money that M$ is gonna pay Universal (7$ ??).
If by any chance Apple would give in to Universal, every crap Record Label would start requiring the same fee and one day we'll have "the new iPod Nano, starting at 500$" :)

iPoop on Record Labels :D
 
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