Universal Confirms They Will Not Be Signing Their iTunes Renewal Contract

We've gotten conflicting stories about the status of the talks between Universal Music and Apple regarding the renewal of their long-term iTunes contract. First, it was reported that Universal would not be signing the renewal, then Apple denied that there was any trouble between the two. Now Universal has come forth and confirmed that they will not be signing the contract.

So which is it? I'm going to guess that since Universal has stepped forward and said that they won't be signing, that they really aren't going to. The issue is with Apple's 99-cent pricing scheme. Universal wants to be able to release tracks at different prices according to what the music is worth, while Apple wants to keep things simple with one price for any song.

This doesn't necessarily mean that all Universal music is going to just disappear, as they will be offering their music to Apple "at will." Universal hopes to offer music exclusively to other online outlets in hopes to shake up some of the grip that Apple has on online music sales.

Universal confirms iTunes non-renewal [via ilounge]