In my opinion, the story is a red herring to encourage dithering parties on a slightly different deal to sign up.
The Wall Street Times reports again the rumour that Apple is expecting to launch a music download service within weeks with music from all five major record companies.
What if SJ has the technology ready to go yet the negotiations with the record companies are stalling and it is proving difficult to clinch their signatures on the all-important contract that will give him access to the music he needs to stock this service? A classic tactic in large deals is to leak a story that encourages the other party to step up a gear.
If you were an executive at one of the other four and saw a report that Apple might be buying your biggest competitor, leaving you out in the cold without access to this wonderful download service that Apple is touting, wouldn't it encourage you to head off that scenario by signing up with Apple.
I work in mergers and acquisitions and have seen this happen a number of times where A is negotiating with B to sell a business. B is dithering, so A leaks a report saying that A is negotiating with C to sell at a higher price. B suddenly becomes very keen to do the deal!
If you were an executive at one of the other four and saw a report that Apple might be buying your biggest competitor, leaving you out in the cold without access to this wonderful download service that Apple is touting, wouldn't it encourage you to head off that scenario by signing up with Apple.
If I were Warner Bro, I would wait to see how the service actually works and how popular it can become and then, if it's really good, I'd either buy Apple or hire another company like M$ to clone the service for me.
If I were Warner Bro, I would wait to see how the service actually works and how popular it can become and then, if it's really good, I'd either buy Apple or hire another company like M$ to clone the service for me.
If I was another label, I wouldn't let Universal get a headstart. I'd sign on, test the waters, and pull out if the service sucked... no harm no foul. If it's really good, then there's no reason to mess with a good thing.
Comments
The Wall Street Times reports again the rumour that Apple is expecting to launch a music download service within weeks with music from all five major record companies.
What if SJ has the technology ready to go yet the negotiations with the record companies are stalling and it is proving difficult to clinch their signatures on the all-important contract that will give him access to the music he needs to stock this service? A classic tactic in large deals is to leak a story that encourages the other party to step up a gear.
If you were an executive at one of the other four and saw a report that Apple might be buying your biggest competitor, leaving you out in the cold without access to this wonderful download service that Apple is touting, wouldn't it encourage you to head off that scenario by signing up with Apple.
I work in mergers and acquisitions and have seen this happen a number of times where A is negotiating with B to sell a business. B is dithering, so A leaks a report saying that A is negotiating with C to sell at a higher price. B suddenly becomes very keen to do the deal!
Originally posted by tompage
If you were an executive at one of the other four and saw a report that Apple might be buying your biggest competitor, leaving you out in the cold without access to this wonderful download service that Apple is touting, wouldn't it encourage you to head off that scenario by signing up with Apple.
If I were Warner Bro, I would wait to see how the service actually works and how popular it can become and then, if it's really good, I'd either buy Apple or hire another company like M$ to clone the service for me.
Originally posted by costique
If I were Warner Bro, I would wait to see how the service actually works and how popular it can become and then, if it's really good, I'd either buy Apple or hire another company like M$ to clone the service for me.
If I was another label, I wouldn't let Universal get a headstart. I'd sign on, test the waters, and pull out if the service sucked... no harm no foul. If it's really good, then there's no reason to mess with a good thing.