Good news, Apple loyal fanboys!. Your beloved leader, CEO Steve Jobs is expected to unveil iCloud Apple´s cloud music service at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on 6 June.
It is thought iCloud will scan users’ hard drives for tracks and allow them to store their music in the cloud so that it can be accessed even when they are not at the same computer. One could say that this movement is a reaction to Google launch of Google´s Music, the same concept, but by the doodle company, which is available now, only in the States and with an invitation.
As you may be aware of, Google and Apple have been battling for the past year, to conquer the most promising field in this time of digital convergence we are living in, that is, the smartphone segment. Two companies investing in R&D like crazy, one with an open point of view for innovation, the other with the opposite, paranoid culture. Both companies deploying the weapons for the final clash, trying to build their ecosystems as if they were webs to choke the enemy.
People that know me know that I am not precisely an Apple lover. Paying more for a shinny wrapping its not for me. Moreover, I´m of the opinion that an open ecosystem, where many players play with the games you provide them, is a better strategy than just being obsessed with control, and having a word in everything. Especially when time to market and being the first mover can be decisive to gain the consumers love.
But with this, there is an issue that moves the balance in favour of the white apple. Google´s approach for their Google´s Music app, at least in the beginning, is to provide a platform where users can upload their music, to listen to it on the device of their choice. That means, the user has to own physically the music in his hard drive. Probably in his desktop/laptop.
On the other hand,” Apple has secured deals with the four major record labels to run their music on the service”, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Google and Amazon have yet to agree terms with record labels. Some people say that the main succeed of the Ipod, was that users could upload their own music, which then lead to the users to buy the Iphone and discovering the Itunes store, getting more and more inside of the platform, which of course guarantees compatibility among the devices. With this Icloud, Apple launch the definitive move in the battle for music. Listen to whichever kind of music you own, or you bought, in whichever device you have. Maybe even in a Chromebook? .
And what´s for the Music Labels, you may ask?. Well, obviously, this is not a cost for them, with Apple in charge of or the logistics of the new channel. But it could be an extra revenue. I dont know the details, but I can imagine that labels will get some benefit depending on how many times each song is played in the new service. And the songs in that service have already been bought by the user, but Apple is paying the labels again for upload them in the cloud. So for each song that the labels sold once through Itunes, they are automatically selling it twice, with no cost for them. Apple charges a fee to the user, and the user can listen to the music he/she had already pay for. In one word, Nice!.
It is thought iCloud will scan users’ hard drives for tracks and allow them to store their music in the cloud so that it can be accessed even when they are not at the same computer. One could say that this movement is a reaction to Google launch of Google´s Music, the same concept, but by the doodle company, which is available now, only in the States and with an invitation.
As you may be aware of, Google and Apple have been battling for the past year, to conquer the most promising field in this time of digital convergence we are living in, that is, the smartphone segment. Two companies investing in R&D like crazy, one with an open point of view for innovation, the other with the opposite, paranoid culture. Both companies deploying the weapons for the final clash, trying to build their ecosystems as if they were webs to choke the enemy.
One Apple to rule them all
People that know me know that I am not precisely an Apple lover. Paying more for a shinny wrapping its not for me. Moreover, I´m of the opinion that an open ecosystem, where many players play with the games you provide them, is a better strategy than just being obsessed with control, and having a word in everything. Especially when time to market and being the first mover can be decisive to gain the consumers love.
But with this, there is an issue that moves the balance in favour of the white apple. Google´s approach for their Google´s Music app, at least in the beginning, is to provide a platform where users can upload their music, to listen to it on the device of their choice. That means, the user has to own physically the music in his hard drive. Probably in his desktop/laptop.
On the other hand,” Apple has secured deals with the four major record labels to run their music on the service”, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Google and Amazon have yet to agree terms with record labels. Some people say that the main succeed of the Ipod, was that users could upload their own music, which then lead to the users to buy the Iphone and discovering the Itunes store, getting more and more inside of the platform, which of course guarantees compatibility among the devices. With this Icloud, Apple launch the definitive move in the battle for music. Listen to whichever kind of music you own, or you bought, in whichever device you have. Maybe even in a Chromebook? .
And what´s for the Music Labels, you may ask?. Well, obviously, this is not a cost for them, with Apple in charge of or the logistics of the new channel. But it could be an extra revenue. I dont know the details, but I can imagine that labels will get some benefit depending on how many times each song is played in the new service. And the songs in that service have already been bought by the user, but Apple is paying the labels again for upload them in the cloud. So for each song that the labels sold once through Itunes, they are automatically selling it twice, with no cost for them. Apple charges a fee to the user, and the user can listen to the music he/she had already pay for. In one word, Nice!.
