CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XLVII: NBC Universal chief says Apple "destroyed" music pricing

NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker clearly did not get enough raisins in his cereal this morning, because dude was not holding anything back during that speech he gave at Syracuse's Newhouse School of Communications -- in addition to saying NBC had made only $15M in iTunes video sales despite being the number one producer of content, he flat-out said that Apple and iTunes had "destroyed the music business" in terms of pricing and that video was next unless "we take control." Of course, seeing as consumers can access Universal's entire music catalog with various subscription services for under $10 a month ($36 a year, in the case of Yahoo Music) and entire NBC shows for free on the web, but still choose to buy songs and shows straight-up on iTunes anyway, it might be fair to say that NBC Universal is still figuring out how to monetize its content effectively, but really, where's the fun in that? Round 7, fight!

[bob e @ Oct 29th 2007 8:30PM]

The man has a valid point. I avoid iTunes and Apple products all together like the plague.

[uberlemurguy @ Oct 29th 2007 9:10PM]

Yep me too. The sound quality is terrible (128kb/s instead of 192kb/s and yes I can tell the difference). The prices are high. Why use it. I like Yahoo! Music good quality and price.

[iRobot @ Oct 29th 2007 10:04PM]

Weather you buy Apple products or use ITunes is not the point. The Zucker is an idiot, and is only doing all this smack talking just to get attention for his crappy little hulu.com -- and you 2 are buying it hook, line and sinker.

We ALL KNOW NBC will be going back to iTunes -- all they're doing is wasting everyones time.

[Ignatius @ Oct 29th 2007 10:03PM]

Uh... why did everyone downvote someone who was expressing their opinion about a company?

God forbid someone have an opinion without a bunch of fanboys freaking out and slamming down the - button.

[Zadillo @ Oct 29th 2007 10:26PM]

To be fair, iTunes Plus music is 256kbps DRM-free AAC, and is now available for a ton of indie tracks as well as EMI, and no longer costs more (it's the same 99 cent price). At this point the only thing really preventing everything in iTunes from being in this same format is the other labels who aren't willing yet to follow EMI's lead.

[Ricochet @ Oct 29th 2007 10:31PM]

Isn't a 128kb/s AAC encoded file generally thought to be about as good as a 192kb/s MP3 encoded file anyway? Not to mention that iTunes is moving towards 256kb/s AAC encoding.

However I do agree to a certain extent, I dislike downloading AAC as other programs and players aren't universally compatible with it to the same extent as MP3 files. For most of the population of iTunes users who dump stuff straight to their iPods it's probably fine though

[nih @ Oct 29th 2007 11:15PM]

I hadn't seen that LOLrus pic before. Where's his bucket?

[Cameron @ Oct 30th 2007 6:59AM]

@ Ignatius because, the article has nothing to do with sound quality (the second comment in this thread) and the first comment in the thread is ... well it's not a comment in the sense that there is no there there...

[justin @ Oct 29th 2007 8:30PM]

so they ruined it by lowering prices?

[bombastinator @ Oct 29th 2007 8:41PM]

yeah. Kind of like how a credit card company refers to someone who regularly pays their bill as a "dead beat". It's all about viewing angle.

[Kevin @ Oct 29th 2007 9:32PM]

i would like to save less money more.
i would like to make more money less.

[The Grand Master @ Oct 29th 2007 8:32PM]

Isn't digital music sales the only field in which the Music Industry is growing and making more money than previously, iTunes being (I believe) the biggest digital music distributer probably had a pretty big part to play in this recovery (to a certain extent) of the music business...

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 29th 2007 9:08PM]

Itunes is by no means the largest music distributor.

PSP software STILL holds that record.

Keep in mind, large populations in ASIA, AMERICA and South America still get their music "illegaly" on P2P cause they aren't willing to pay anyone ANYTHING.

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 29th 2007 9:08PM]

Itunes is by no means the largest music distributor.

P2P software STILL holds that record.

Keep in mind, large populations in ASIA, AMERICA and South America still get their music "illegaly" on P2P cause they aren't willing to pay anyone ANYTHING.

[The Grand Master @ Oct 29th 2007 9:45PM]

Wow, I'm pretty sure you could have figured out by inference, and just common sense that I was referring to LEGAL digital music distributors.

[brett @ Oct 29th 2007 9:48PM]

...gee, i really love it when 12-year-olds all-caps the important words for me. it really makes what they're saying all the more clear and poignant...

[The Grand Master @ Oct 29th 2007 10:26PM]

Well since the previous poster successfully missed the point, I thought I'd go a tad overboard in getting my point across. I don't really understand how you're taking this as an insult to you unless you and 'dickhardknocks' are one and the same which seems unlikely as what you have said makes some kind of sense to read.

Referring to other posters is '12 year old boys' is not only showing a degree of your own immaturity, but also a disregard for the other people who comment on the site.

Have a good night!

[The Grand Master @ Oct 29th 2007 10:27PM]

Having read my previous comment it seems that I may have misunderstood you, were you haranguing me or the previous poster?

Sorry if I've misconstrued your comment!

[Penguin Warlord @ Oct 30th 2007 12:34AM]

I'm prett sure he was refering to tinyharddick or whatever his name is. And to tinylimpdick way to double post and mispell P2P as well as completely missing the point. Go ahead and call yourself a rebel all you want for illegally downloading music but if everyone did that then we would not have a music industry and no professional musicians. I download music quite often but only for bands who I wouldn't buy there CD. So 3inchlimpdick should get off my interwebz until he hits puberty or at the very least gains the intelligence of a 12 year old.

[bob @ Oct 29th 2007 8:33PM]

i torrent all my episodes of the office. I watch them when they are on, and then i get them, i sit through the commercials and everything. If they are letting me watch it for free im not going to pay.

[thethirdmoose @ Oct 29th 2007 8:33PM]

Hey, if you dont want that 15 billion, I'll be glad to take it off your hands...

[squeevi @ Oct 29th 2007 8:39PM]

15 MILLion bud, not BILLion.

[nate @ Oct 29th 2007 9:04PM]

i think he'll take it either way.

[thethirdmoose @ Oct 29th 2007 9:38PM]

Squeevi, you are right, and I would sincerely like to apologize to you and Mr. Zucker for misquoting NBC's revenue.

That said, I'll take 15 million, too.

[Fernando @ Oct 29th 2007 8:35PM]

Typical corporate pig statement well go figure!

[Alex Padilla @ Oct 29th 2007 8:36PM]

every time a record company speaks, they talk out of their asses. they just don't get it, do they?

I still lol at the "ringle" concept

[mattstl77 @ Oct 29th 2007 8:40PM]

DRM is a bitch. For what you paid in iTunes, it is not worth the price when you figure in the wonderful rationale behind DRM. Thank you to Apple for willingly carrying this out for the music companies. DRM may not be Apple's idea, but they definitely didn't mind it.

I also avoid Apple and iTunes as well. Not necessarily for their overpriced computers, ipods, and music. But for the drop in quality in their products.

[bbydon @ Oct 29th 2007 9:47PM]

How do you know they have drop in quality in their products if you avoid them.....also do some research. The computer with the same specs are priced the same if not better than a dell or hp

[halycon404 @ Oct 29th 2007 11:35PM]

I hate this comparison. They are not priced Apples to Apples the same. Apples support of products is universally considered the worst in the industry. Once they get you, they don't care. You've already bought into their marketing. Sure you can upgrade for some semblance of parity on support, but it costs much more than its PC counterpart companies. You're also locked out of all the windows apps. In terms of use for dollar spent, apple is the most expensive thing out there. And before you flame me for being a Windows Fanboy, I run Linux.

[Ian Eisenberg @ Oct 29th 2007 11:52PM]

halcyon... are you kidding me?
Apple consistently rates highest for user satisfaction.
They also have a great record on support, but since you love Linux and everything else sux...
You know, a fanboi is a fanboi.

Speaking as a fanboi myself.

The upshot of this whole article is that Zucker is talking out of his rectum in the corporate version of the gonad crouch ( you know, to protect his balls). iTunes came along and showed the music industry that downloads are a viable business model. They just want more, as they always do. It is imperative that we as consumers show them that we won't allow it. Wether you support Apple or Yahoo or Amazon's new service (although I smell fish there) the recording industry and the AV giants need to see that we the consumer want readily accessible, inexpensive products.

And yes the misspelling of fanboy is intentional, I am not 12, I use multiple OS but prefer OSX, I have a family and kids, I get out and see the world, I am capable of forming coherent thoughts and sentences with correct grammar and will not criticize others for errors... and I will not call anyone a nazi or Hitler and invoke Godwin's Law.

[The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 30th 2007 1:32AM]

Yeah, halcyon-- Apparently you don't read Consumer Reports, which has said for *many* years that Apple rates highest in customer service and product support. Highest. As in "beats every other technology company hands down."

So how's that product support for Linux, by the way?

[zwilnik @ Oct 29th 2007 8:48PM]

It's still 15x more than Universal will have got from their $1 per Zune sold deal.

[Samurai Jack @ Oct 29th 2007 8:52PM]

What a ridiculous statement. Video isn't like music at all, and NBC Universal has two *potential* paying customers. One are the advertisers who make the broadcast model work. End viewers get video for free in this scenario. The second paying customer is the person willing to buy TV seasons on DVD. They have to wait longer for content, but they're willing to pay a lot for something they could have for free--if there were no cable/satellite middleman.

Apple offered a third model. Pay for video the next day without commercials, and download the content. This is what NBC wants to kill. They clearly feel they can collect money on both ends--from advertisers by leaving in commercials, and from consumers to download DRM'd content with commercials. They're just easing their way to that point.

The real winner? Bittorrent. Consumers might be sheep but they're not stupid ones.

[willyboy @ Oct 29th 2007 11:40PM]

No such thing as a free lunch buddy. I would not call sitting through 15 minutes of commercials for a 20 minute sitcom free. My time is worth a hell of a lot more than 4 dollars an hour......Of course, by posting this, I have just spent 50 cents. $1.99 for a commercial free sitcom is well worth my time.

[pepper @ Oct 30th 2007 2:09AM]

@willy there will probably be about 5-6 30 second commercials throughout an hour of an episode, just as it is on nbc.com. that's 2 and a half to 3 minutes of commercials.

i'd rather watch 2-3 minutes of commercials than pay 2-3 bucks to watch an episode of anything.

itunes is a waste of money, there are cheaper alternatives. and how can you guys be mad at NBC? this is a business, they were getting screwed by apple, so why not make more money as well as get the content to viewers for free. i would think those of you that want to watch shows from fox and nbc as well as movies would rather do so for free with limited commercial interuption, instead you all bitch that they dont want to charge you.

[Rich @ Oct 30th 2007 5:22AM]

Trsust me Pepper, you'll watch a whole load more than 2-3 minutes of commercials in a one hour show. This was most noticable to me when watching '24' on the BBC. Somehow each hour of 24 only took up 45 mins on commerical-free BBC!

But then rebranding 24 as 18 for the BBC might not have worked too well. Still, at least Jack get's some sleep...

[Rob @ Oct 29th 2007 8:53PM]

I agree. Apple destroyed my continued search for brand new and heavily discounted $0.99 cd's. I used to love going to music stores and look for the stuff that was 3-5 years old and on clearance. Today, good luck finding that bin. All thanks to Apple's $0.99 cents per song crap. Now, everyone thinks that an album should be worth $9.99. Even the slowest sellers at the store. Obviously we're talking about two different methods of selling the same license. But, they all affect each other. Apple did the recording industry the greatest favor in the world; raise the value of their product. It screw cheap-deals searchers like myself by eliminating the clearance bin. Damn you Apple. Damn you.

[KC @ Oct 30th 2007 2:30AM]

Hey Rob, I can't agree more with you there! Gotta love finding those "gems" in those bins for $1.

[darren @ Oct 29th 2007 8:54PM]

Hmm..I'll stick with anyone that makes the consumer happy. Torrents ftw! =]

[Killian @ Oct 29th 2007 9:00PM]

is it me, or does he look like a fat Tobias?

[Stephen @ Oct 29th 2007 9:06PM]

it's not just you.

[BirchB @ Oct 29th 2007 9:07PM]

THATS who he looks like!

[halos @ Oct 29th 2007 11:22PM]

Brilliant!

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 29th 2007 9:10PM]

Their idea is to sue a couple hispanics in high profile "file sharing lawsuits" to scare the rest of us into buying these bullshlT services.

I'm not paying anyone ANYTHING.

Laptop. Wifi. Limewire. detachable 100GB HDD.

...that's all.

[i.c. weiner @ Oct 29th 2007 9:12PM]

POTATOES!

[Jason @ Oct 29th 2007 9:14PM]

I would think it has more to do with the fact that in the past an Artist could easily sell an entire CD for $12-$16 and they made money of the other 11 songs they put on the CD... now with the PayPerTrack type model a record label is only selling a fraction of the artists work... if you like 2 of the new Linkin Park songs why buy the whole CD for $14 when you can get the 2 songs for $2?? Its like they have lost of the ability to sell the ad-ons that nobody wants...

Of course I still like buying CDs... its a great way to find new songs that you will like... I get way too tired of a song if I listen to it over an over again... I like getting a new CD and finding 5 or 6 good songs that I might not have found by downloading the 2 popular tracks.

Movies will not quite be the same thing... Video stores have been killed by Pay Per View and Netflix already... Apple is way behind on killing the movie industry

[greg @ Oct 29th 2007 9:41PM]

speak on man, speak on

[Jared @ Oct 29th 2007 11:38PM]

Maybe they should make an additional 12 songs that are worth while owning, that would make a CD worth $15. Instead they stick to the old business model where you truly pay $15 for two songs and 13 sections of "noise"

[DG @ Oct 29th 2007 9:17PM]

No one else access Universal's entire catalog for free via spiralfrog.com? Why not?

I'm also a student in university, and have access to ruckus.com. So long as media distributors are giving full albums away (and I could care less if it's 128kb, considering the quality of my headphones), I see no reason to purchase music unless it's from my favorite, independent bands.

[ark_v2 @ Oct 29th 2007 9:29PM]

Well, they ruined it with DRM