blog @ stevendunston.com

Apple TV latest info on Engadget

According to Apple’s marketing campaign, if it’s on iTunes, it’s on the Apple TV. That may be true for Apple’s early adopters who plopped down $299 for the privilege of porting their media from their computer to their television. But it wasn’t true for Apple’s Global Sales Training Department, which frantically contacted me about a month ago, seeking to use my music for the launch of their Apple TV Sales Training DVD.

It seems that the training department and the marketing department had gotten their schedules mixed up. The training DVDs were ready to ship, but the demo content had not been cleared for such a use, so Apple staff turned to the internets, searching for unsigned artists with open licenses on their music, who would consent to being included on the training DVD. Apple found my music on Jamendo. I’m assuming I’m not the only Jamendo artist they contacted that day.

My music happens to be available through iTunes. But it was not iTunes which brought me to Apple’s attention. It was Jamendo. A small, French, Bittorrent-based, Creative Commons licensed music community.

I was told that my music was a good fit for the project, and asked to participate. I promptly and politely replied, asking how many DVDs would be distributed and whether I could receive a copy. But they never responded.

Not including poor communication skills, I came up with a couple of theories why I never heard back from Apple:

1. At the final hour, the marketing department got their act together
2. My requests indicated that I was wary of contributing, and too much hassle to deal with.
3. Apple did include my music, without my permission, and without informing me that they would actually do so, beyond an initial inquiry.

So I’d love to know. Who else heard from Apple on February 14th? And does anyone out there have the Apple TV Training DVD? Because I’d love to see it, or at least know what music ended up on the disc.

But whether or not I ever hear anything more about the Training DVD, this amusing episode gave me some additional insight into Apple and their media empire. Exactly one week before, Steve Jobs posted his Thoughts on Music wherein he, disingenuously, I believe, claimed that he was opposed to DRM. Apple, it seems is aware of all the alternative sources for music out there. And we’re not just talking Zune. We’re talking Jamendo, Magnatune and all of the other Creative Commons and public domain artists.

It also suggests that copyright and DRM are serious impediments, not only to consumers and artists, but to the very businesses which are built on proprietary software and strict intellectual property controls. And because of this, those of us who create and support open licenses stand to benefit — not just artistically, but perhaps financially as well.