Universal made a public announcement that they will not longer be guaranteeing that Apple will be receiving all new music at time of launch or that Apple may ever get the music. This means that Universal has the ability to work new exclusive deals with different digital distributors that may or may not be available later on iTunes.

This bit of news could shake up the digital music business because Universal, owned by Vivendi, is the world’s largest music conglomerate, representing one of every three albums sold in the United States. And it underscores the longstanding and increasing tension between Apple and the entertainment industry, not to mention the scores of rivals who spend days and nights plotting for ways to chip away at the primacy of the Apple iPod.

The New York Times has a good in-depth article, “All Shook Up, Right Down to the Musical Core“, about the announcement and how this is more of a bit of “saber rattling” then any real threat to iTunes. Right now the digital market is dominated by iTunes and this appears to be more of a strategic move to allow Universal to work deals with other distributors to help spread out their digital distribution channels.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 4:00 am and is filed under Digital Music Industry, Distribution. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.