So just how much did it take to convince the major record labels to come on board for Apple’s new iCloud music service?
According to the New York Post, Apple agreed to pay as much as $150 million in advance payments to music labels in order to get them to agree to allow Apple to make their music available on a cloud-based storage service.
As for the “big four” music labels, each one was paid at least $100 million, according to the report, with tens of millions of dollars offered to smaller labels as well.
Other companies, including Google, had been flirting with the idea of a cloud music storage/playing service, but it seemed there were always holdups in getting anything finalized. It was thus kind of a surprise when Apple seemed to score a deal so quickly.
Now we know why. It’s always about money, and apparently Apple has no hesitation in cutting some pretty big checks in order to get the new project off the ground.
Although the iCloud platform has been confirmed, the exact details won’t be revealed until Apple holds its keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference – an event so important that CEO Steve Jobs is coming out of medical leave to front the keynote.
Among the issues to be cleared up is whether or not Apple will charge users a separate fee for the cloud service, or if they’ll be free as long as users purchase the individual tracks.
According to reports, terms of the service were finalized Thursday, with 12% of all iCloud revenue going to the labels, 30% going to Apple, and the rest to cover all additional expenses.
