News

Indie Labels Opting Out Of iTunes Match

11:54 a.m. · June 17, 2011 · by Andrew Winistorfer

In case you missed it: iTunes Match is a part of Apple's updated iTunes program, where for the low price of $25, you can have official, 256kbps versions of anything in your iTunes. This could mean that you get official versions of songs that you Torrented five minutes ago, but that's only if the labels sign on for it. Which is a big if, since indie labels are expressing doubt about the service, most notably Numero Group, the vintage R&B label, which has officially backed out of the service. The label raises an interesting point: It "legitimizes piracy" and that royalties will be small for indies:

"We feel that a great risk is being taken by Apple and the major labels that have accepted the terms of this new product wholesale with not a thought beyond the 150M those so-called "big four" will probably divide and pay to their top executives. By that, we mean that laws that protect compositions and copyrights for songs are, more or less, being trampled under these agreements."

So, if you've just torrented the Numero Group back catalog, and were looking to use iTunes Match on it, so sorry. There's no way that Numero is the only label that decides the rewards aren't worth it. [Gizmodo]