iTunes has become a big success with music and television, so what is next for Apple? Movies will most likely be the next move for iTunes. Daily Variety reports that Apple is in talks with more than one studio about offering movies for download on iTunes.
iTunes reportedly aims to have movies for purchase before the end of this year, most likely December. This is not a surprising move for Apple or Hollywood considering the creation of more legal movie download services. In the last few months, Movielink and CinemaNow have both started offering more movie downloads as they make deals with FOX, Disney, and other studios. Warner Bros. is working to create a BitTorrent network to distribute its movies for purchase.
Yahoo News reports about the pricing problem that is apparently currently snagging the deal, and the influence that iTunes’ popularity could have on the movie download market:
Steve Jobs is said to want one flat price of $9.99 per movie, whereas studio executives want a range of prices that mirrors videos and DVDs at retail stores which, generally speaking, run from discount titles at a few dollars apiece up to $19.99 or more for new releases.
It is probable that studio executives want to avoid the situation in which music executives now find themselves. Several major labels reportedly wanted to offer a similar approach for songs, but iTunes is far and away the leader in online music sales, so Apple was able to hold the prices steady.
Movie executives may believe it will be worthwhile for them to continue with other distributors, but iTunes is very popular, and the movie download market could use the boost that added exposure in iTunes would certainly bring. It seems to be a face-off.
Apple has so far managed to offer a uniform price for songs ($.99 each) and for television shows ($1.99 each).
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