Rumour: Warner Music will not renew long-term iTunes contract

May follow Universal in a month-to-month deal

26 October 2007 11:48 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Following Universal's dramatic decision to not renew its long-standing, long-term iTunes contract with Apple, The Washington Post is reporting that another major label may do the same.

The rumours suggest that Warner Music is considering following its rival studio's example of only signing up to provide its content through iTunes on a month-by-month basis, rather than commit to a longer term.

In a wider piece about the problems Apple is having with securing TV shows for the iTunes platform, The Post states that Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO is "getting significant resistance from a content creator that would rather turn its back on the mighty iPod than capitulate to Jobs's pricing demands".

Warner's contract with Apple expires at the end of the year, and, according to the article: "Is considering switching to a month-to-month deal with Apple, said a source with knowledge of the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no decision has been made".

Previous reports suggested Warner Music (as well as Sony) were interested in joining Universal's Total Music "iTunes-killer" download service that would take the studio's music direct to the consumer.

It looks as if iTunes' complete market dominance, and the power that comes with that at a business level, may be coming to the end of an era, which, although fans may be upset at losing access to TV shows via iTunes, could be argued to be a good thing long-term for the consumer.