The Internets claim Apple to make record label

by Tironius, created Monday, July 16, 2007, with permalink

MOLI:

“…it’s a done deal: Pop’s top couple will move to Apple to run a new music division.”

A sensational report surfaced of Apple creating a record label with Jay-Z and Beyoncé as executives, presumably to directly distribute music through the iTunes store.

I speculated to this end when I heard Apple Computer and the Beatles’ Apple Corps settled their decades-old legal dispute, giving Computer all rights to the Apple brand, as well as the new-found right to move into the music industry.

This makes a lot of sense, and has the possibility to make Courtney Love’s essay on record labels speaks of “work for hire” copyright laws and debtors’ prison-style catch-22s that the labels impose. Courtney Love happy. I'd wager that Apple is in a better position to give musicians better terms than what they currently get at other labels, because Apple's priority is to sell the players. The Apple music label, I would further guess, is simply a way to ensure content for the devices. Better deals, and the musicians' ability to retain the ownership of their creative work, could be the incentives for musicians to take the risk of signing to a new music model.