In an interview with AdAge, Sony executive Michael Ephraim says that music publishers are starting to look for alternatives to iTunes, including Sony’s own Music Unlimited, which will soon be launched.
“Publishers are being held to ransom by Apple and they are looking for other delivery systems, and we are waiting to see what the next three to five years will hold,” Ephraim is quoted as saying.
Of course, what Ephraim is really saying here is that he’d like Sony’s own version of iTunes, Music Unlimited, to become big enough that they don’t have to pay Apple a cut, or can renegotiate their terms with Apple in a way that is more favorable to Sony.
Bluntly, though, it seems unlikely that Music Unlimited will dethrone iTunes. Apple has all of the momentum and all of the iPods. If Ephraim really wants Sony to pull away from iTunes, they need to look towards alternatives doing something iTunes isn’t doing yet. European streaming music service Spotify is one possible contender… and what do you know? Sony just inked a deal with Spotify. Maybe Apple does have something to fear here after all.
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