2 months ago
- In May 2003, Apple invited CD Baby to discuss adding independent music to the iTunes Music Store.
- Steve Jobs personally pitched the importance of including all music, including independent and discontinued works.
- Apple required physical CD ripping for uploads, rejecting CD Baby's pre-digitized catalog of 100,000 albums.
- Post-meeting notes were published online, angering Apple; they were removed but tensions remained.
- CD Baby charged artists $40 per album to cover costs, signing up 5,000 musicians and earning $200,000.
- Other services like Rhapsody and Napster quickly adopted CD Baby's catalog, but iTunes delayed contract approval.
- In a keynote, Steve Jobs criticized $40 intermediaries for low-quality music, referring to CD Baby's fee.
- After refunding $200,000 and making the service free, Apple unexpectedly returned the signed contract with upload instructions.