Can Apple save the music industry again?
The rumor is that Apple is currently in secret talks with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group on project “Cocktail.” The major labels are once again looking to Apple to revive the slumping industry with a full-featured tablet that’s a bit of a throwback to the golden era of record sleeves, artwork, liners, etc.
“It’s all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music,” said one executive familiar with the plans.
The FT says the tablet will be announced alongside the content partnerships in September. Said ginormous iPod Touch will connect to the Internet but “probably without phone capability” so that still leaves a hair of possibility about Verizon scoring the rights to the tablet. But that’s highly doubtful given The Street’s record of rumors.
via FT