Music executives says negotiations have only just started
We second-guessed as much, but now there has been confirmation of sorts that the music part of the iCloud service will not be heading to the UK anytime soon.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the September launch in the US will not be replicated in the UK, with the first quarter of 2012 tentatively mentioned as a possible date for this side of the Atlantic.
A spokesman for the Performing Right Society (PRS), which ensures that composers, songwriters and music publishers are paid for their work, told the newspaper that negotiations with Apple were at a 'very early stage'. it continued: 'The licensing team at the PRS have started talks with Apple, but are a long way off from any deals being signed…It is very much the early stages of the negotiations and is similar to the launch of iTunes – which began in the US and took a while to roll out to other countries.'
A music executive at one of the major record labels was also reported as saying: 'Tentative talks have begun between the major labels and Apple in the UK. However, all talks are at the really early stages and no one expects to see the cloud music service live on this side of the pond until 2012.'
The labels have yet to officially comment, no doubt wary of saying the wrong thing as negotiations progress. But backing up the potential delay, Mark Mulligan, VP and research director at Forrester Research, said: 'Apple’s cloud music service will not launch in the UK until at least quarter one of 2012. These types of negotiations take a long time… For one thing the UK arms of all the major record labels are biding their time and waiting to see how the service affects download sales in the US before they sign up to anything.'
Both Google and Amazon have launched similar services in the US in the last few weeks, none of which are planned to hit the UK either anytime soon. If that changes, we'll let you know.
We second-guessed as much, but now there has been confirmation of sorts that the music part of the iCloud service will not be heading to the UK anytime soon.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the September launch in the US will not be replicated in the UK, with the first quarter of 2012 tentatively mentioned as a possible date for this side of the Atlantic.
A spokesman for the Performing Right Society (PRS), which ensures that composers, songwriters and music publishers are paid for their work, told the newspaper that negotiations with Apple were at a 'very early stage'. it continued: 'The licensing team at the PRS have started talks with Apple, but are a long way off from any deals being signed…It is very much the early stages of the negotiations and is similar to the launch of iTunes – which began in the US and took a while to roll out to other countries.'
A music executive at one of the major record labels was also reported as saying: 'Tentative talks have begun between the major labels and Apple in the UK. However, all talks are at the really early stages and no one expects to see the cloud music service live on this side of the pond until 2012.'
The labels have yet to officially comment, no doubt wary of saying the wrong thing as negotiations progress. But backing up the potential delay, Mark Mulligan, VP and research director at Forrester Research, said: 'Apple’s cloud music service will not launch in the UK until at least quarter one of 2012. These types of negotiations take a long time… For one thing the UK arms of all the major record labels are biding their time and waiting to see how the service affects download sales in the US before they sign up to anything.'
Both Google and Amazon have launched similar services in the US in the last few weeks, none of which are planned to hit the UK either anytime soon. If that changes, we'll let you know.
