Apple Event Not Music Focused

Posted by Editor on Jan 19, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

Well it sorta makes sense as the music and later telco industries have been the intensive focus of iPod and iPhone related Apple events respectively for years. This morning All Things Digital reported some rumors on who would be part of the upcoming Apple tablet event. Of note is that music industry types would be low on the radar next to publishers, newspapers, magazines and books- in that order of preference.

Don’t expect much from the big music labels.

Jobs courted Big Music when he opened up the iTunes store in 2003. But label sources I talked to this month said the company had only recently begun briefing them about the tablet, primarily as a “courtesy”. Recall that Apple already has the labels on board with the “iTunes LP” format, which would lend itself quite nicely to a tablet. One label official told me Apple has expressed an interest in selling higher-quality audio files via iTunes, and I’m sure the labels would be happy to do so, if they could charge a premium for them. But that discussion didn’t seem to be tethered to the tablet.

Electronista also picked up on the publishing-focused nature of the tablet event but did point out this iTunes music tidbit:

Apple may look to sell music on iTunes beyond the 256Kbps it offers today, though it’s not clear what quality would be involved and any changes wouldn’t be directly connected to the tablet.

For more on both reports, visit Electronista and Mediamemo.

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