It seems that Steve Jobs has once again won his battle with the music industry:
Record labels have for months been calling on Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL – news – people ) Chief Executive Steve Jobs to reform the pricing of songs on his online music store iTunes. In particular, they want the billionaire to jack up the price of newer hits from the regular flat rate of 99 cents. But alas, it all seems to have been to no avail. On Tuesday, we learned that after finally renewing its contract with Warner Music Group, EMI, Bertelsmann and Sony joint venture Sony BMG, and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, Apple Computer has had the final say on pricing–and it’s staying at 99 cents.
I wonder if it’s beginning to dawn on the music industry that they created a monster when they insisted that Apple develop a DRM scheme. As more and more music fans become locked into Apple’s proprietary platform, Steve Jobs will be able to dictate terms to the labels, and may be able to cut them out of the loop entirely by dealing with artists directly.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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