Filed under: iPod Family
UMG Doug "You are all Pirates" Morris eyes iPod
Remember Doug Morris? The Universal Music Group chief who claimed that iPods are repositories for stolen music? The guy who negotiated the dollar-per-Zune piracy-insurance scheme?
According to Australian IT, he's working on putting together an iPod royalty fee similar to the Zune fee during the next round of negotiations with Apple.
"It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too far. I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe not in the same way," he reportedly told Reuters.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
David said 9:06PM on 11-28-2006
Screw this guy and screw Universal. Just for saying that, I'll go dl some Universal stuff for free.
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James Whited said 9:41PM on 11-28-2006
Honestly, He sounds like the f*cking criminal.
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Mr. Krinkle said 9:41PM on 11-28-2006
Note to Jobs: If this jackhole gets one over one you, I wouldn't purchase a single iPod for the rest of my life. And if I was given one, I would consider this deal a legal green light to flagrantly use any and all P2P applications to obtain, with no limit, all UMG works.
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Taylor said 9:44PM on 11-28-2006
It won't fly with Jobs.
*pirating as much Universal property as possible*
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Jon said 10:18PM on 11-28-2006
I hope that Jobs doesn't let them get away with it. If Universal succeeds in getting a premium, I can see other companies following suit. I'd rather that Steve said goodbye to Universal than gave in to them.
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Zac said 10:21PM on 11-28-2006
Someone on Macbreak Weekly (or TWiT, can't remember) said something very valid regarding this - if we're paying a 'royalty' for most likely stealing Universal's music, does that mean we're legally exempt from legal action? If so, I'll pay my $1 and pirate as much Universal stuff as I can.
Not that it matters. The iPod's too universal. The Zune was only in such a position for that agreement as it's US only, and therefore record company negotiations are valid. For the iPod, Universal US is different the Universal in Europe, and anywhere else in the world. There's no way a blanket fee could be applied.
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Dean Baird said 1:56AM on 11-29-2006
Steve: Yeah, so we were thinking about dropping UMG properties from iTunes. Our users are nothing but pirates and you sure don't want to do business with them.
Doug: No, Steve; pleeeeze!
Steve: Well, how 'bout you fall over my knee so I can give you the right, proper spanking you clearly deserve. And I promise this is going to hurt you more than it hurts me.
Me? I'm happy to pay my $1/song and let everyone take their cut. It's intellectual property and that's how it works. I don't rip people off and I don't expect people to rip me off. And I trust uncle Steve to open up a can of whoop-ass on dildos like Dougie. Seems like Steve's done well so far.
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Liquidmark said 10:39PM on 11-28-2006
Message for Steve Jobs:
Wave the Old pirate Flag when that bum comes for re-negotiation!
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kris said 10:39PM on 11-28-2006
i do NOT have one single song i have pirated, i do have over $200 worth of iTunes media, i would be insulted if Apple did this. Universial, being so big and all has to make the most money off of any record label on iTunes, so i would think that if Jobs said no, than they would just fold, becuase they cant afford to lose iTunes sales.
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Wheels said 10:52PM on 11-28-2006
Mr. Morris,
Just remember this: there's more than one way to be a pirate.
Arrrrg!
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Joshua Schnable said 11:48PM on 11-28-2006
Makers of CD players pay certain technological royalties to people like Philips, who developed the technology. That makes sense, and I think it works out to like a dollar or two per unit.
iPods ship with no music on them. I'm not sure if Zune players do, but if they do, and some of those songs are from UMG artists, then a small royalty makes sense. Now, a royalty for the *probability* of stolen UMG artist music showing up on said iPod? That's a bit of a stretch, but let's look at what went down in negotiation with Microsoft - they're new, and incredibly late to the market. They have nothing to leverage in this game with labels, and Morris is basically being a thug and having his way with them. Without a deal with UMG, the Zune would be sunk before launch.
Apple, on the other hand, has the largest market share of with the iTunes store AND the devices that play that music. Who has the upper hand here? If UMG pulls out of the Apple store, sure, it might hurt some of Apple's iPod sales, but you'd better believe that UMG is going to miss the cash from all those LEGAL downloads.
I'm not saying that Apple will be immune to this new idea from UMG, but re-read his quote: "I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe not in the same way."
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ajm said 1:29AM on 11-29-2006
Dear Mr Morris,
Firstly, the beloved iPod is no zune!
Second, and more importantly, you are the crook, charlatan, part of an elitist group of greedy scoundrels that have had their pyramid scheme usurped by innovators like apple. They legitimatized an made equitable an environment where you otherwise would keep barriers high, choices non-existent, and feel comfort in saying such things as "it's on behalf of the artist" (whose money lines Your pockets anyhow)...
done with rant...lol... but is there no end to the blatant greed these music labels exhibit.
Sincerely
Not as ignorant as you believe consumer
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Adrian said 3:18AM on 11-29-2006
People have been pirating music 'forever', tape to tape, record to tape - before digital music or the iPod existed. Everyone at achool did it. Tape casettes have a small levey on them to compensate the music industry. I don't see why a small levey couldn't be put on ALL digital music / mp3 players.
But seriously this guy from Universal shows his contempt for the public, for consumers and for people who enjoy music. Universal aren't keeping up with the times, they fear change, they fear new technology - get with it or sell up and stop moaning.
But isn't that royalty for the crappy 'free' tracks that come with the Zune box.
(Lovin' my 80GB iPod ... but seriously Apple, too many button clicks to get where i want to go on the interface. Navigation needs to be more interlinked somehow.)
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gisli haukur said 4:11AM on 11-29-2006
Well this is what i did too protest :)
http://static.flickr.com/102/309356865_66c08dbd54_o.png
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draiz said 5:50AM on 11-29-2006
Those greedy bastards should be held at gunpoint and shot down like the dogs they are!
Just for that, I'm gonna go with you guys and download tons of universal stuff for free... At least with a p2p copy, I won't be bothered by the now (sadly) sacro-saint "Piracy is theft" crap they put at the beginning of every legal DVDs. When the filesharing revolution comes, those people are gonna be on the wrong side : who wants to pay assholes who have done nothing but exploit people by abusing their monopoly? Gee, that's kinda like Microsoft now, isn't it? :)
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Kevin Davidson said 6:18AM on 11-29-2006
Two points.
1) If this "royalty" fee is to cover the losses due to pirated music on iPods, then surely that's it paid for. They can never touch iPod owners with pirated UMG music. Or do they want to have their cake, and eat it, and then have a bit of everyone else's cake as well? Don't answer that.
2) In the UK the music charts (singles at least) are now almost totally dominated by online sales. Physical CD sales don't seem to add up to much, especially as they have relaxed the rules so that there does not need to be a CD/vinyl physical single to accompany a download for it to count. [*] iTunes totally dominates the online music sales market. If you have a hissy fit with Apple and pull your music off iTunes, then that's really going to backfire on you - your artists' singles won't get in the singles charts, they won't get played on mainstream radio and people won't buy the album (as they'll never have heard of the single).
[* Bizarrely 7 inch vinyl singles seem to be returning - presumably as they're harder to copy onto a computer - several recent singles have been available only as download or 7 inch vinyl]
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Adam said 6:45AM on 11-29-2006
This is absolutely rediculous! There should be laws preventing these corporations from being able to even CONSIDER pulling this kind of stunt.
I hope Jobs goes kung-foo on his a$$! Besides, who really listens to Universal's music anyways?
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unclejerry said 8:37AM on 11-29-2006
Why does he have his eye's set on the ipod and not ALL computer companies? You download stolen music on the computer and then use the computer to add it to the ipod. It doesn't just automatically appear on a mp3 player by itself.
He must have his hands in somebodies pockets... oh that's right, he does....
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Hugh Gentry said 9:46AM on 11-29-2006
How much of that "royalty" fee goes to the artists?
I'm guessing the number is around $0.00.
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b boonen said 10:21AM on 11-29-2006
Dougie and his lot are the robbers -- they have sold me the some songs up to 14 times: on LP disc, cassette and CD often regurgitating the same songs as fillers in albums time and again. Ever notice how short some albums became?
As well, they sold me short -- often selling me 3 or 4 decent songs in an album and filling up the rest with chaff.
In all that time, the artists also got a raw deal -- just ask them.
If this greedy pirate gets his way, I wonder what the distribution of the ill-gotten loot will be? I'll wager now that not one artist will get a single cent more!
Dougie should hang his head in shame for pulling that swiftie over Microsoft -- the latter has gone Soft in the head!
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