I still think there's a chance that this is another hoax. I know I'm being overly cynical, it's safe and easy to label anything announced on April 1 as a hoax and ask questions later.
Then its a pretty bad hoax isn't it? If it was a hoax, it'd be announcing something interesting like the video ipod being released tomorrow, or the iphone being canceled, or Apple being bought by Microsoft...
The fact this is short notice would suggest the Beatles thing - quite why its so short notice, I've no idea though... It may be the Beatles thing + something else. The fact its in London does really suggest the Beatles to me.
But why would Steve Jobs be there to tell a crowd of journalists that The Beatles is now on iTunes? That sounds too small a news piece for Steve to fly over to London.
harrison put money into "The Life of Brian" its a film.. you may have heard of it....
now, that was George Harrisons OWN private money... MAYBE?
BUT, as Apple Inc have got hold of all the AppleCORE trademarks and things, and licence certain things back to AppleCORE as per the agreement reached earlier in the year....
would a BIGer announcment be some MOVIES on iTunes in the UK AT LAST?
IF somehow Harrisons money was tied up and into AppleCORE and "The Life of Brian" is somehow tied in as part of that??
bit of a long stretch... i know... but just whacky enough.
also... if ringo and paul are gonna play... and YOU were steve... wouldnt YOU go see the last two beatles perform together possibly one last time?
Wasn't TimeWarner trying to buy EMI recently? Wouldnt it be fab if Apple beat em to it and snapped up EMI! They would have a propper seat at the table then, rather than steve turning up at the record co's door like a salesman!
well, macrumors thinks it's DRM free music. no beatles. it'll be interesting to find out it the morning! There's an AP story speculating it'll be the beatles now. Some people may be pretty disappointed.
well, macrumors thinks it's DRM free music. no beatles. it'll be interesting to find out it the morning! There's an AP story speculating it'll be the beatles now. Some people may be pretty disappointed.
Just because they "think" its DRM free music means nothing. I think its Jobs going to take over EMI. That has about the same believability (unless mac rumors is quoting some unnamed source).
The only thing of import that this could be would be video in the UK. Second, maybe, would be lossless files, but that won't happen (too expensive on broadband cost).
DRM-free would be limited and, since it already exists anyway (heard of CDs, limewire, kazaa, etc), its not going to change anything. And, lest we forget, if they go DRM free, there's no more a requirement for an iPod for your music. Apple wouldn't like that. And you don't think the other stores would still be selling the same music DRM'd? So then there's no reason to shop at the iTMS either.
Beatles music on-line is hardly exciting. They haven't made any new music in 35 years. Anyone who cares already has the whole collection. And no one would be (well, SHOULD be) stupid enough to go nuts and buy their new remastered catalogue in 128KB AAC. ("Hey, we've just redid our music and its better sounding then ever! Now we're slicing it through a cheese grater to make it really small so it'll sound just like it did before!").
Hey, maybe Apple's going to announce a widescreen iPod, or an iPhone that people can actually afford.
Or, maybe this is it!!!! The Powerbook G5!!!!!!!! OMG, its finally a reality! And did they ever play it close to the vest. The whole switchover to Intel was just to throw the rumor sites off the scent! Man, that Jobs is one clever guy!
And if you read it, it says "a significant amount of its catalog". My guess is, if this so-called report is true, that's the back-catalog, not the new stuff (which would be fine by me).
Apple Inc and music label EMI Group Plc plan to announce "an exciting new digital offering", EMI said today, renewing speculation of a deal to put the Beatles music catalogue online.
However, a source said a Beatles deal would not be featured at the event tomorrow.
"There is no Beatles' announcement," the source said.
EMI said it plans to hold a news conference tomorrow at its London headquarters, where EMI Chief Executive Eric Nicoli will be joined by Apple Chief Executive and co-founder Steve Jobs, the company said in an email to reporters.
A live Webcast of the event, which will feature "a special live performance", will be available at http://www.emigroup.com beginning at 1pm local time in London (2200 AEST).
JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg said a tie-up between Apple and EMI could cover a range of issues, but that a Beatles distribution pact was not likely part of the deal.
"While the Beatles are the obvious choice, the invitation does mention a 'special live performance' and it is clear that that live performance does not cover the Beatles," Gartenberg said.
"There are a lot of other possibilities."
Currently, no Beatles songs can be downloaded via online music services. EMI has acted as the distributor for the Beatles since the early 1960s.
The news event follows the settlement in February of a long-running trademark dispute between Apple Inc. and the Beatles' company, Apple Corps Ltd.
This cleared a hurdle for selling the songs of the Fab Four, which have been a high-profile holdout from internet music services like iTunes.
At the high-profile launch of the Apple iPhone in January, Steve Jobs raised hopes that the band could be about to go digital when it played one of their songs and used a Beatles' album cover to grace a giant on-stage screen behind him.
Beyond any potential deal with EMI involving the Beatles, Apple and EMI could be working on a means for eliminating restrictions that prevent unauthorised duplication of digital music.
Earlier this year, Jobs called on the world's four major record companies, including EMI, to start selling songs online without copy protection software to thwart piracy known as digital rights management.
Jobs said there appeared to be no benefit for the record companies in continuing to sell more than 90 per cent of their music without DRM on compact discs, while selling the remaining small percentage of music online encumbered with a DRM system.
Even though I'm slightly thinking this could be a hoax (april fools day)... I will go on the record and say I will purchase DRM free music just to support this. I only listen to very underground stuff, but I'll be open to purchasing this. I absolutely HATE the current set up of iTMS. I have downloaded 1 album and 1 song from iTMS... and as it currently stands I won't do it again. The quality wasn't as high as cd, and you aren't allowed to redownload songs you have lost. I bought Mitch Hedberg's last cd, a few days later my g5 KP'd and I lost just about everything. iTMS support said too bad. The other song I got was from the pepsi giveaway when they first opened. I am constantly annoyed with entering my password on that and redoing the keys every time I get a new computer. I go through pcs every 3-5 months (they have the mass storage as my apple laptops do not and that is why I play my music off of them), and am always having to redo the keys on that 1 song. It's annoying. So at least that problem would be taken care of.
Actually, it would be. They're not my personal fave, but they are the best-selling band of all time (over ONE BILLION discs and tapes sold worldwide! Dear God. )
And Jobs obviously has tremendous affection for them, considering he named his company Apple in tribute to the Beatles (who had formed Apple Records/Apple Corps):
Jobs, who co-founded what was then known as Apple Computer in 1977, has previously acknowledged choosing the company name and graphical logo (which, unlike Apple Corps, has a bite missing) in tribute to the Beatles, his favorite band.
Comments
The fact this is short notice would suggest the Beatles thing - quite why its so short notice, I've no idea though... It may be the Beatles thing + something else. The fact its in London does really suggest the Beatles to me.
Leopard top secret features?
LOL
But why would Steve Jobs be there to tell a crowd of journalists that The Beatles is now on iTunes? That sounds too small a news piece for Steve to fly over to London.
harrison put money into "The Life of Brian" its a film.. you may have heard of it....
now, that was George Harrisons OWN private money... MAYBE?
BUT, as Apple Inc have got hold of all the AppleCORE trademarks and things, and licence certain things back to AppleCORE as per the agreement reached earlier in the year....
would a BIGer announcment be some MOVIES on iTunes in the UK AT LAST?
IF somehow Harrisons money was tied up and into AppleCORE and "The Life of Brian" is somehow tied in as part of that??
bit of a long stretch... i know... but just whacky enough.
also... if ringo and paul are gonna play... and YOU were steve... wouldnt YOU go see the last two beatles perform together possibly one last time?
i know i would
Wouldnt it be fab if Apple beat em to it and snapped up EMI!
No way.
well, macrumors thinks it's DRM free music. no beatles. it'll be interesting to find out it the morning! There's an AP story speculating it'll be the beatles now. Some people may be pretty disappointed.
Just because they "think" its DRM free music means nothing. I think its Jobs going to take over EMI. That has about the same believability (unless mac rumors is quoting some unnamed source).
The only thing of import that this could be would be video in the UK. Second, maybe, would be lossless files, but that won't happen (too expensive on broadband cost).
DRM-free would be limited and, since it already exists anyway (heard of CDs, limewire, kazaa, etc), its not going to change anything. And, lest we forget, if they go DRM free, there's no more a requirement for an iPod for your music. Apple wouldn't like that. And you don't think the other stores would still be selling the same music DRM'd? So then there's no reason to shop at the iTMS either.
Beatles music on-line is hardly exciting. They haven't made any new music in 35 years. Anyone who cares already has the whole collection. And no one would be (well, SHOULD be) stupid enough to go nuts and buy their new remastered catalogue in 128KB AAC. ("Hey, we've just redid our music and its better sounding then ever! Now we're slicing it through a cheese grater to make it really small so it'll sound just like it did before!").
Hey, maybe Apple's going to announce a widescreen iPod, or an iPhone that people can actually afford.
Or, maybe this is it!!!! The Powerbook G5!!!!!!!! OMG, its finally a reality! And did they ever play it close to the vest. The whole switchover to Intel was just to throw the rumor sites off the scent! Man, that Jobs is one clever guy!
NEWS JUST IN; IT IS IN FACT ABOUT DRM FREE EMI MUSIC! Wall Street Journal reports.
And if you read it, it says "a significant amount of its catalog". My guess is, if this so-called report is true, that's the back-catalog, not the new stuff (which would be fine by me).
NEWS JUST IN; IT IS IN FACT ABOUT DRM FREE EMI MUSIC! Wall Street Journal reports.
I don't think WSJ does April Fool's jokes, so I'd agree with this bit of speculation...
No Beatles in Apple/EMI deal: source
Apple Inc and music label EMI Group Plc plan to announce "an exciting new digital offering", EMI said today, renewing speculation of a deal to put the Beatles music catalogue online.
However, a source said a Beatles deal would not be featured at the event tomorrow.
"There is no Beatles' announcement," the source said.
EMI said it plans to hold a news conference tomorrow at its London headquarters, where EMI Chief Executive Eric Nicoli will be joined by Apple Chief Executive and co-founder Steve Jobs, the company said in an email to reporters.
A live Webcast of the event, which will feature "a special live performance", will be available at http://www.emigroup.com beginning at 1pm local time in London (2200 AEST).
JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg said a tie-up between Apple and EMI could cover a range of issues, but that a Beatles distribution pact was not likely part of the deal.
"While the Beatles are the obvious choice, the invitation does mention a 'special live performance' and it is clear that that live performance does not cover the Beatles," Gartenberg said.
"There are a lot of other possibilities."
Currently, no Beatles songs can be downloaded via online music services. EMI has acted as the distributor for the Beatles since the early 1960s.
The news event follows the settlement in February of a long-running trademark dispute between Apple Inc. and the Beatles' company, Apple Corps Ltd.
This cleared a hurdle for selling the songs of the Fab Four, which have been a high-profile holdout from internet music services like iTunes.
At the high-profile launch of the Apple iPhone in January, Steve Jobs raised hopes that the band could be about to go digital when it played one of their songs and used a Beatles' album cover to grace a giant on-stage screen behind him.
Beyond any potential deal with EMI involving the Beatles, Apple and EMI could be working on a means for eliminating restrictions that prevent unauthorised duplication of digital music.
Earlier this year, Jobs called on the world's four major record companies, including EMI, to start selling songs online without copy protection software to thwart piracy known as digital rights management.
Jobs said there appeared to be no benefit for the record companies in continuing to sell more than 90 per cent of their music without DRM on compact discs, while selling the remaining small percentage of music online encumbered with a DRM system.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/digita...66120017.html#
Apparently they are going to drop DRM! Which is like.... WOW, no DRM, they must have come up with a more creative way to screw us over.
meh.
I don't think WSJ does April Fool's jokes, so I'd agree with this bit of speculation...
They've been right so far.
Wall Street Journal Story
Apparently they are going to drop DRM! Which is like.... WOW, no DRM, they must have come up with a more creative way to screw us over.
meh.
Steve made his point, and if this is factual, it has finally sunk in for someone.
My bad.
b.
Beatles music on-line is hardly exciting.
Actually, it would be. They're not my personal fave, but they are the best-selling band of all time (over ONE BILLION discs and tapes sold worldwide! Dear God.
And Jobs obviously has tremendous affection for them, considering he named his company Apple in tribute to the Beatles (who had formed Apple Records/Apple Corps):
Jobs, who co-founded what was then known as Apple Computer in 1977, has previously acknowledged choosing the company name and graphical logo (which, unlike Apple Corps, has a bite missing) in tribute to the Beatles, his favorite band.
http://www.eonline.com/news/article/...b-dbb7259e4d47
How is this not exciting again, assuming it does happen?
.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...home-headlines