How much money did it take Apple to grease the palms of the record industry and get iCloud off the ground? Compared to the billions Apple has in the bank, Cupertino managed to convince the labels to sign onto their music streaming service by just throwing the spare change they had rattling around in their pockets at them.
It cost Apple between “>$100 million and $150 million to obtain licensing rights from the four major music labels, the New York Post reported Friday. The individual payments of between $25 million and $50 million were described “as an incentive to get on board, depending on how many tracks consumers are storing.”
The iCloud service, expected to be officially unveiled next week when CEO Steve Jobs speaks before a San Francisco audience of Apple developers, will be free at first for iTunes customers, but a $25-per-year fee could be added later, the report confirms.
Thursday, Universal Music Group became the last of the major labels to agree to Apple’s terms. The tech giant gets a 30 percent cut from any subscription, with 12 percent going to music publishers and the remainder to labels, according to the Post.
Analysts see iCloud as a way for Apple to put even more distance between its iTunes franchise and rivals such as Google and Amazon. A pretty good return on just a few million dollars, don’t you think?
