Dear UMG: YOU ARE ON THIN ICE.
The Universal Music Group of Vivendi, the world’s biggest music corporation, last week notified Apple that it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes […] Instead, Universal said that it would market music to Apple at will, a move that could allow Universal to remove its songs from the iTunes service on short notice if the two sides do not agree on pricing or other terms in the future.
Much has been said about the general state of affairs between Apple and the music labels (who needs whom, who’s exploiting whom, the impact of iTunes on the various bottom lines, etc.), so I’ll skip all that and put this very plainly.
Here, in order of increasing cost to me (annoyance + time + money), are the ways in which I am prepared to acquire new music:
- Purchase from iTunes.
- Other methods of acquisition. (Sharing disks with friends, or in rare circumstances, p2p file sharing.)
- Buy a physical CD.
Something for you to think about, Universal.