Financial Times: Apple in Talks With Music Companies for Music Subscription Service

Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, reporting for The Financial Times (who’ve been spot-on in their recent Apple rumor reporting):

Apple is in discussions with the big music companies about a radical new business model that would give customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPod and iPhone devices.

Apple would not comment on the plan, but executives familiar with the negotiations said they hinged on a dispute over the price the computer maker would be willing to pay for access to the labels’ libraries. […]

Nokia is understood to be offering almost $80 per handset to music industry partners, to be divided according to their share of the market. However, Apple has so far offered only about $20 per device, two executives said. “It’s who blinks first, and whether or not anyone does blink,” one executive said.

★ Wednesday, 19 March 2008