Music Business Blog

Want to Copy iTunes Music? Go Ahead, Apple Says Jim Wilson/The New York Times Philip W. Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco on Tuesday. By BRAD STONE Published: January 6, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO — In moves that will help shape the online future of the music business, Apple said Tuesday that it would remove anticopying restrictions on all of the songs in its popular iTunes Store and allow record companies to set a range of prices for them. Skip to next paragraph Multimedia  Today's Business with Jeff Sommer and Brad Stone Related Bits: Macworld Live Blog (January 6, 2009) Apple’s Jobs Explains His Weight Loss (January 6, 2009) Where’s the Other Half of Your Music File? (May 31, 2007) Times Topics: Apple Inc. Beginning this week, three of the four major music labels — Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group — will begin selling music through iTunes without

Despite iTunes Accord, Music Labels Still Fret By TIM ARANGO Published: February 1, 2009 Last month the music industry and Apple , long uneasy partners, seemed a picture of harmony when they agreed on new terms for pricing on iTunes, Apple’s online music store. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image The iTunes home page, Apple’s soapbox for promotions. Related Want to Copy iTunes Music? Go Ahead, Apple Says (January 7, 2009) Times Topics: Apple Inc. Add to Portfolio Apple Inc Go to your Portfolio » Behind the scenes, however, the relationship remains as tense and antagonistic as ever. The announcement on Jan. 6 seemed to signal a rapprochement between the music industry and its biggest distributor: record companies gave up their demand for copyright protection (called digital rights management) and Apple allowed flexible pricing, so the labels could charge more for new or popular tracks. But according to one music industry executive involved in the negotiations,