iPods With Unlimited Music: Is Steve Jobs Coming Around to Subscriptions?

The Financial Times reported today that Apple is in discussions with the major labels to sell iPods and iPhones that come with unlimited access to iTunes music. Consumers would pay a one-time surcharge when they buy the device, and would be able to download as music as they want for the life of the iPod or iPhone. It's similar to a deal that Nokia worked out with Universal Music Group last year, to sell its phones with unlimited access to Universal tunes for an $80 premium. According to FT's sources, the Apple deal is being held up by negotiations over how much to charge for the access: Apple wants to keep the charge as low as $20, while the labels presumably want something closer to the Nokia deal.

The deal sounds a lot like the subscription model already available from Rhapsody, Napster and others, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs has long said does not work: "The subscription model has failed so far," he was quoted as saying last May. "Never say never, but customers don't seem to be interested in it." If Apple was able to offer unlimited access to iTunes music for a $20 extra charge, it's hard to imagine many consumers not being interested in it.

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter