Funny to think that Apple's GodJobs has consistently pooh-pooh the idea of subscription music services. "Never say never, but customers don't seem to be interested in it," Jobs said in an interview almost a year ago. "The subscription model has failed so far. ... People want to own their music." Yet even as Apple rose to dominate online music sales, the company has been keeping tabs on the subscription market, just in case. In 2005, Business Week reported that Apple talked talked to music companies about a subscription strategy. Nothing came of it at the time, but now the Financial Times is reporting that Apple is once again sniffing around the rental market.
Apparently, Apple is in talks with major music companies about approaches to a subscription model. One plan, along the lines of Nokia's "Comes With Music" program, would charge a premium -- as much as $100 more -- for iPhones and iPods bundled with lifetime unlimited access to the iTunes library. Another approach may be a monthly subscription in the $7-$8 range, though that would work only for the iPhone. The talks have to do with how much Apple would need to pay the record companies to offer that kind of access to their catalogs. According to the FT, the music labels want something like $80 per device to split among themselves, while, as usual, Apple is trying to grind them down to the $20 range.
The reaction of Apple watchers generally falls into two camps, one asking why mess with a good thing, and the other wondering what Apple is waiting for. Neither camp would be surprised, however, if all this latest talk amounted to nothing, at least right now. Still, if GodJobs wants it... GodJobs will have it!
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Hey, it's my way, or the highway!
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