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| From | Drew MacDonald <drewmacdonald1@gmail.com> |
| Subject | Could this "Cocktail" work? |
| Date | Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:22:47 -0700 |
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Am I wrong to be skeptical about this?
"File shared" from the Financial Times:
Apple joins forces with record labels
By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles, Kenneth Li in New York and Joseph
Menn in San Francisco
Published: July 27 2009 01:01 | Last updated: July 27 2009 01:01
Apple is working with the four largest record labels to stimulate
digital sales of albums by bundling a new interactive booklet, sleeve
notes and other interactive features with music downloads, in a move
it hopes will change buying trends on its online iTunes store.
The talks come as Apple is separately racing to offer a portable,
full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas
shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a
new revolution. The device could be launched alongside the new content
deals, including those aimed at stimulating sales of CD-length music,
according to people briefed on the project.
Physical album sales have fallen sharply as music retailing has
evolved from CD album purchases in retail outlets to digital downloads
of songs from online stores.
Although consumers continue to purchase large amounts of digital
music, they are buying individual tracks rather than higher-margin
albums.
Apple is working with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal
Music Group, on a project the company has codenamed “Cocktail”,
according to four people familiar with the situation.
The labels and Apple are working towards a September launch date for
the project, which aims to boost interest in albums by bundling liner
notes and video clips with the music.
“It’s all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit
around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to
the music,” said one executive familiar with the plans.
Apple wants to make bigger purchases more compelling by creating a new
type of interactive album material, including photos, lyric sheets and
liner notes that allow users to click through to items that they find
most interesting. Consumers would be able to play songs directly from
the interactive book without clicking back into Apple’s iTunes
software, executives said.
“It’s not just a bunch of PDFs,” said one executive. “There’s real
engagement with the ancillary stuff.”
The music companies declined to comment.
Album sales in the US fell 14 per cent in 2008 to 428.4m units,
according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks retail sales data.
The new touch-sensitive device Apple is working on will have a screen
that may be up to 10 inches diagonally.
It will connect to the internet like the iPod Touch – probably without
phone capability but with access to Apple’s online stores .
Apple is gambling that it can succeed where everyone else has flopped,
including Microsoft, which tirelessly pushed a tablet-ready version of
its Windows operating system as a personal favourite of founder Bill
Gates.
The entertainment industry is hoping that Apple, which revolutionised
the markets for music players and phones, can do it again with the new
device.
“It’s going to be fabulous for watching movies,” said one
entertainment executive.
Book publishers have been in talks with Apple and are optimistic about
their services being offered with the new computer, which could
provide an alternative to Amazon’s Kindle.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
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