Apple | Internet Marketing Blog

Labels may be split on DRM in wake of Jobs memo

Music industry representatives have thumbed their noses at Apple CEO Steve Jobs' call this week for DRM to be dropped from digital downloads.

Referring to Jobs' suggestion of licensing Apple's FairPlay DRM technology far and wide, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) CEO Mitch Bainwol tol the AP: "We have no doubt that a technology company as sophisticated and smart as Apple could work with the music community to make that happen."

by Robert Andrews 09 February 2007 12:37pm 0 comments

'Not guilty', says Apple on music DRM

Amid growing consumer demand for platform-neutral digital music without cumbersome copy protection, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has fired the digital rights management (DRM) ball firmly into the record labels' court.

In a surprise open letter, titled "Thoughts on Music" and published on apple.com last night, Jobs wrote:-

"The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players.

by Robert Andrews 07 February 2007 15:19pm 0 comments

Apple vs Apple: Jobs and McCartney bury hatchet

All they needed was love. Now Apple and The Beatles have kissed and made up - and it could see The Fab Four's catalogue added to iTunes.

The band's Apple Corps. label last year lost a High Court lawsuit in which it had claimed Steve Jobs' computer company had reneged on a prior agreement not to confuse matters by entering the music business using the "Apple" name.

by Robert Andrews 06 February 2007 11:30am 0 comments

iWant strikes again

Once again, Apple has started a new year by announcing a plethora of exciting goodies for technophiles, with the long anticipated iPhone taking centre stage.

As a fairly committed early adopter (I have not used a paper diary since 21st December 1996 – yes I do know the date exactly, because my latest Palm based PDA has all my diary entries since then), I am already drooling.

by Tom Stewart 12 January 2007 08:34am 0 comments

Jobs unveils Apple's iPhone

Accompanied by rapturous applause from Apple's legions of fans, many of whom queued for hours to see him, Steve Jobs unveiled the eagerly awaited iPhone at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco last night.

The new gadget from Apple certainly looks impressive, and will come in 4GB and 8GB versions, costing $499 or $599. It includes a touchscreen with virtual keyboard, a 2 megapixel camera, is WIFI enabled, as well as containing all the functions of an iPod.

by Graham Charlton 10 January 2007 13:29pm 2 comments

Research reveals top 10 UK etailers

A new report has looked into the performance of the top 28 UK retailers as measured by traffic, and has found much room for improvement.

The research, carried out by Marketing Assistance Ltd on behalf of Blast Radius, looked at the whole online shopping experience, from from first visit to returning unwanted items.

by Graham Charlton 23 November 2006 11:27am 0 comments

Microsoft in cool-envy, Zune to be a ‘dismal failure’ - BusinessWeek

In an article called ‘Zune: Falling Down On Cool’ BusinessWeek savages the forthcoming Microsoft device, predicting that “by this time next year, it will be considered a dismal failure”.

And the reason why it will fail? Because it isn’t cool, and neither is Microsoft, says BusinessWeek. It adds that attempting to become cool is the only reason that Microsoft is launching the Zune in the first place.

Authored by Arik Hesseldahl, the article states that “the Zune will be seen for what it is: a me-too product that is expressing Microsoft's envy at not being cool”.

Maybe so, but business isn’t really about ‘being cool’. 'Cool' helps with product marketing and customer aqcuisition, but product quality and lifespan are key to customer retention, recommendations, and repeat business.

by Chris Lake 10 November 2006 12:32pm 1 comment

Microsoft gives Universal a slice of Zune sales

In an attempt to gain advantages for its Zune music player over the almighty iPod, Microsoft has agreed a new deal with Universal Music.

This deal with give Universal a cut of the profits from sales of Microsoft’s iPod rival, the Zune. In return, Microsoft will receive rights to distribute content to Zune’s users for limited wireless sharing.

This could be a gamechanger for Apple, which has so far avoided cutting this sort of deal with content owners.

by Graham Charlton 09 November 2006 14:29pm 0 comments

Interview with Martin Stiksel of last.fm

Last.fm has become one of my very favourite web apps – it helps me find new music and figure out what I've been listening to most (Cocteau Twins, for the record).

I recently hooked up with Martin Stiksel, one of the company's founders, in last.fm's new offices near Old Street in London, to discuss progress to date and to find out more about the service.

The interview with Martin is right after the jump...

by Chris Lake 08 November 2006 11:18am 0 comments

Xbox gears up for online video downloads

Owners of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will soon be able to watch and download a range of movies and TV shows through their consoles.

Microsoft has announced that it plans to rival Apple by renting and selling downloaded movies and TV shows through Xbox Live, though the video service may well be more about the console wars with Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii.

by Graham Charlton 07 November 2006 16:36pm 0 comments