The Difficulty with Music Licensing

There are many articles out on the Net about Microsoft ending licensing discussions with music labels. The key sticking point is the high costs mandated by the music industry. Microsoft was rumored to launch its own music subscription service, but these plans have been delayed due to this licensing breakdown.

Kinda lends credence to Steve Job’s recent claims that record labels are “getting greedy.”

What can you learn from this? The music industry is muscling back against the Microsoft muscle, and Apple did a great job getting the iTunes Music Store going with 99-cent songs.