Okay. It’s official. Black is white. Up is down. And — while I’m thinking about it — Quick! Someone go get me a weather report for Hell. I bet there’s a cold front moving in …
What am I talking about? Here, take a look at this shocking press release that just came off the wire:
Apple and Walt Disney Records Team up to Deliver Exclusive Soundtracks on iTunes
CUPERTINO, California and BURBANK, California-April 21, 2004-Teaming up to offer the leading collection of digital music for kids, teens and families, Apple® and Walt Disney Records today announced that the catalog of Walt Disney Records, including soundtracks from Disney’s classic animated films and Disney/Pixar’s computer-animated films, is now available exclusively on the iTunes® Music Store through September 30th.
A new “Disney” genre page within the iTunes Music Store will feature a wide range of family entertainment including the soundtracks from animated films such as “Alice in Wonderland,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “Snow White” and “The Little Mermaid”; Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story,” “Toy Story 2,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo;” plus, Disney audio storytellers, theatrical cast recordings and music from up-and-coming stars Raven and Jesse McCartney.
“Now iTunes users can add these timeless Disney songs to their music libraries and enjoy them wherever they go on their iPods,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “This exclusive access to the classic songs from films like ‘The Lion King,’ ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Mary Poppins,’ to name just a few, is going to make many of our iTunes users very happy.”
“We are proud to offer a way for customers to easily own the classic and contemporary Disney music they know and love,” said David Agnew, executive vice president and general manager of the Buena Vista Music Group (BVMG), who oversees Walt Disney Records. “We chose to deliver our digital music catalog exclusively on iTunes because it is the leading global online music store.”
“This is the next logical step in BVMG’s continuing efforts to reach the music consumer directly,” added Bob Cavallo, chairman of BVMG. “We’re happy to be in business with Apple.”
The iTunes Music Store has sold more than 50 million songs, providing music fans with the best digital music experience on either a Mac® or Windows PC. Apple is the only company to offer a complete solution for buying, managing and listening to digital music anywhere with the unique combination of the iTunes digital music jukebox software, the pioneering iTunes Music Store and the market-leading iPod? and iPod mini digital music players. All work seamlessly together to make the new digital music era accessible to everyone.
Walt Disney Records is the number one children’s and family music label in the world and is part of The Buena Vista Music Group, the recorded music and music publishing arm of The Walt Disney Company.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
Okay. Now the part of this announcement that I really want you to pay attention to that section where Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, says nice things about the Walt Disney Company. Now keep in mind that this is same Steve Jobs who — in his capacity as CEO of Pixar Animation Studios — has had absolutely nothing good to say about the Mouse House (in particular the Disney’s corporation’s management) for months now …
But now that Disney has given iTunes exclusive access to the company’s music catalog — Steve is all smiles.
Which brings us to the really BIG question: What does this all actually mean? Did Disney — in an effort to get Pixar back to the negotiating table — decide to extend one hell of an olive branch? I mean, exclusive access to Walt Disney Records’ catalog? Even though the current terms (as listed in the above press release) suggest that the exclusivity portion of this deal goes away on September 30th … that still means that — over the next five months — a hell of a lot of money is going to pour into iTunes’ coffers.
A generous gesture like this on Disney’s part would (in theory) make Steve Jobs very happy. Which (again, in theory) might make the man who serves as both Apple’s CEO as well as Pixar’s CEO look a bit more kindly toward the Disney Company’s embattled CEO, Michael Eisner. Maybe even compel Steve to cut Michael a bit of a break and have Pixar re-up its distribution deal with Disney.
Okay. Maybe I’m reading ‘way too much into a single press release. But this is really HUGE news, folks. Disney and Apple agreeing to work together on something. I mean, less than 10 days ago, Steve Jobs was saying that Pixar would agree to re-up with Disney … but only if Michael Eisner was removed as CEO … and now this?
JimHillMedia.com is going to watching this story very, very closely over the next couple of days. Because — trust me, folks — there’s more to this Disney/Apple iTunes deal than first meets the i … er … eye.
Your thoughts?