The Daily Swarm

UPDATE: Billboard.biz:

Apple and major record labels have reportedly stepped up negotiations concerning the idea of bringing the “Total Music” concept to iPod devices.

The negotiations, first reported by the Financial Times and since confirmed by industry sources, were little more than a “discussion” between Universal Music Group’s Doug Morris—the champion of the Total Music idea—and Apple CEO Steve Jobs just six months ago.

According to sources, Apple in the last month reached out to all four major labels to discuss the prospect in more detail, and negotiations now involve the various digital teams at both the labels and Apple.

The Total Music concept involves providing free access to music tied to a specific device in return for a cut of the device price—essentially bundling the cost of about a year’s worth of music into the cost of the device at sale.

UPDATE: Wired Listening Post:

Apple’s reported plan to bundle unlimited iTunes music store access with iPods could bring antitrust allegations similar to those faced by Microsoft for its bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows, according to David Pakman, CEO of iTunes competitor eMusic.

“They’re basically saying, ‘Let’s give a piece of every iPod sale to the record labels in exchange for bundling in all the music you can eat with every iPod’” said Pakman (pictured). “That’s classic Sherman Antitrust Act behavior. It’s called tying, and it’s where a company with a monopoly position in one market uses that monopoly position unfairly to compete in another.”

FT:

Apple is in discussions with the big music companies about a radical new business model that would give customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPod and iPhone devices.

The “all you can eat” model, a replica of Nokia’s “comes with music” deal with Universal Music last December, could provide the struggling recorded music industry with a much-needed fillip, and drive demand for a new generation of Apple’s hardware.

Telegraph UK:

Apple is reportedly in talks to sell an iPod and iPhone that would give customers access to all of the six million songs on its iTunes database.

The Financial Times reports that customers would pay either a fixed price or monthly fee and in exchange they would be able to download all the music on the website for the lifetime of the device.

Market research has found that consumers are very keen to pay a lump sum upfront for the iPod or iPhone plus all the songs rather than buying the gadget first and then paying separate fees for tracks they want.

It is not yet clear how much the model would cost but research is reportedly being carried out by Apple to establish how much consumers are willing to pay.

The deal would be similar to Nokia’s ‘comes with music’ contract which will be launched later this year whereby customers will be able to download an unlimited amount of songs from the record label Universal’s back catalogue.