Daniel.Hjelmtorp.com

This is a very interesting news which can be applied on the game industry to. According to Jeff Zecker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, the Apples price model on iTunes is destroying the music industry. A very hard statement and accusation against Apple. About a month ago NBC left iTunes with where music and tv-series, because Apple refused to change there pricing and give NBC a share of the hardware sales from Ipod and IPhone. The pricing is understandable to a certain degree, but a share of the hardware sale? Absolutely not! Why would they, its not like they help develop and sell the product. Sure, they contribute with content, but in my view that content ain’t a reason to buy the product, and how do you decide and justify that? What if EA, Ubisoft, Square-enix or Bungie demanded to get payed each time a console they developt for got sold?

And what I don’t get is this debate about pricing versus distribution channel. How many different types of digital distribution models have been tried and failed. NBC want more money, but Steve Jobs have the consumers interest and making them satisfied as a priority, something that should be NBCs as well. Consumer wants product to cost as low as possible, and iTunes have proven to work for selling and distributing music content. Today iTunes is one of the USs biggest retailer of music. NBC have switched from iTunes to a collaboration with Amazon to distribute there content. Jeff Zucker have often talked about the war against piracy and to develop new business models when working with the internet. And when they finally have a working platform to sell music and tv-series, they still aren’t happy, and just want more instead of listening to the costumer what they are willing to pay!

I can agree that the iTunes should get competition, cause monopoly is seldom good. But when the entire music and movie industry drive a witchhunt for “pirates” and just about any one that have been in the same room as pirate, Steve Jobs have a platform that works and have prices that people can live with. Still they aren’t happy or satisfied. And iTunes won’t save the industry from the pirates, but its still better there than being distributed through the illegal internet channels.
And that Apple is destroying the music industry with its iTunes and the business and pricing model is just a lot of bullshit! Its the first and biggest successfully music internet retailing platform. So NBC, stop being so fucking bitter just cause you don’t care about the consumer and just want to squeeze out every cent you can from them.