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Zune and Universal - deal with the devil?
Author: Brett ThomasPublished: 9th November 2006
A penny for me, a penny for you - Microsoft will pay RIAA members that back its Zune for every unit sold.
The move has come right as Microsoft is looking to launch the player in the US next week, likely realising that its content base is considerably undersized compared to Apple's iTunes. So, MS has decided to sweeten the deal, starting with the one company that is contracting with it so far - Universal. That's right, part of the purchase price for your Zune will go right into the hands of record execs - before you've even bought a song.
Such a move is likely to stir up quite a bit of controversy in the industry, as the idea of the recording industry getting hardware sales has not yet successfully entered contracts in America. The concept has taken off in neighbouring Canada, where all blank media are charged a small royalty fee - but then again, the Canadian government protects the fair use rights of its consumers with incredible ferocity. It is seen there as a quid pro quo - the industry gets the gains up front, but the consumers get to use the media a lot more liberally.
Assuming that Zune sales are fairly successful, the recording industry will no doubt start looking to Apple with its hand out for every iPod sold. At that point, should the company not start to waver on some of its pro-consumer stances (such as fixed, "low" prices per track and relatively generous DRM), it could find itself losing industry support to the rival Microsoft store.
A deal with the devil indeed. Do you have a thought on the issue? Will it keep you from buying a Zune, or does this seem like a justified move to make? Let us know your thoughts in our forums.
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Comments (13)Stats: 0.054 seconds
With that in mind, do i get a discount on my Zune if i don't plan to play pirated music?
Or maybe since i've already paid money to Universal; do I get to 'pirate' all of Universal's catalogue without fear?
What a complete joke
"In an effort to get a broader support base for its new Zune player and music store, Microsoft may have just landed itself a deal with the devil. I realize that many of you are probably scratching your heads wondering how the company shook its own hand, but let me explain better"
:D:D:D:D:D
2. I think this really shows how the recorl lables view their customers. They think we're ALL criminals, they think they have a god given right to make a profit, and they think that anything they do to bend the customer over in the name of profit is justified because everyone is a pirate. Well, guess what, treat people like criminals and they'll act like criminals. People will know that part of the reason their new player cost so much is because MS gave some of the money to the record labels (Probably only a buck or so per, but still) and so if they want to recieve the full value of their purchase they had better go out and download some music.
How about the missing features like an auto sense if the player is held vertical or horizontal? Where are meta tags for pictures to remember alignment? Where is the sharing of playlists, not just individual songs. Why can you flag songs for later inspection but cannot flag a picture. Why can I share a song, but no video? For the price, I want to be able to browse the net, most phones can do that and you get one practically free with the service.
In other news, the Zune releases next week? They seem to have achieved the plan to keep this very much hush huss...whether that was intended or not. I'm sure if I said Zune to 99.9% of the population, I'd be looked at with extremely twisted faces.
CD's, DVD's and that sorta thing; i can understand the royalty's on this.
But paying for a media-device that originally holds music which you already
payed for (DRM, Urge, iTunes Store and such), is just insane. You'll be paying
a double royalty on music for Universal, while the device might not even be
used for ány content from Universal itself.
Besides all that, it gives Universal a bit foot between the doors.
Whichever digital music store wants to sell Universal's content, has to pay
a royalty. Even the reason that Universal gave is just bollocks.
Sorry Microsoft, but even if I wanted to buy a clunky device like the Zune,
you actually made me repel the whole thing by your actions with Universal
(also known as The Dog)
Not only that, but none of it will probably go to artists since it's unspecific what people will be assumed to pirate. Definitely not buying a Zune now.
That's what some of us want, and hope for.
Anyway, not hugely sure I would have bought a Zune, but I'm definately also not now either.
These days it seems like I'm running a personal boycott of half the things I read about released here :D
zune will die soon, it is no match for the ipod.