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Looking a gifthorse in the mouth.
Edgar Bronfman, CEO of Warner Music Group, and the man who can seemingly turn $1 billion into $1 million, wants his cut of iPod revenues:
Mr. Bronfman said the music industry should not have to use its content to promote the sale of digital music devices for Apple or anyone else, and not truly share in the profits.Funny, but the iPod was selling just fine when people were downloading music from Napster and Kazaa. It seems like iPods are the weapons, and you can get the bullets anywhere.“We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don’t have a share of iPod’s revenue,” he said. “We want to share in those revenue streams. We have to get out of the mindset that our content has promotional value only.
“We have to keep thinking how we are going to monetize our product for our shareholders,” added Mr.Bronfman. “We are the arms supplier in the device wars between Samsung, Sony, Apple, and others.”
iTunes has save the record companies' butts, and they are getting 65 cents per song for doing nothing, while Apple handles the sales and distribution.
The DVD business has taken off too, but Mr. Bronfman isn't asking for a share of DVD player revenue. And he isn't asking for a share of the iPod competitors' revenue either.
It sounds a lot more like iTunes is promoting the sale of content than the other way around. Perhaps Mr. Bronfman should just shut up and take the money before customers find an alternative.
Hat tip to Engadget.