Universal Music Group Chief Executive Doug Morris said on Tuesday he may try to fashion an iPod royalty fee with Apple Computer Inc. in the next round of negotiations in early 2007.

“It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too far. I don’t see why we wouldn’t do that… but maybe not in the same way,” he told the Reuters Media Summit, when asked if Universal would negotiate a royalty fee for the iPod that would be similar to Microsoft’s Zune.

It seems that one part of Microsoft’s strategic game play with the Zune is coming to fruition. It is going to be very interesting to see how Apple will respond.

If my hypothesis about Microsoft’s deliberate “mistakes” in their Zune strategy have the desired effect on Apple we will see significant growth in consumer awareness and concern about DRM (particularly among non-tech geeks) and increased pressure from record companies for variable pricing of songs in the iTunes store.

Technorati Tags: Zune, Competitive Intelligence.

• iPod interface for my Acura car stereo, which is a good add-on to the self-administered Christmas gift of the 5G iPod. Both the car exterior/interior and the iPod are black, so it’s all so sexily color coordinated.
• A gigabyte of RAM to upgrade my Mac Mini. The little boy runs oh-so-smoothly compared to before.

Very merry Christmas, indeed. May everyone get what they want this year.

I’m wondering if I might just cave and pick up a apir right now. The past week has seen me pop the headphones for my iPod and iPod Shuffle out of my ears and accross the room on more than one very emberassing occasion. Several instances occured at the gym, generally when a low-hanging cord got caught by my knee as I attempted to maneuver myself into one of those torure devices they call excercise equipment. Another occured during an attempt at gardening and involved a ho and an errant wire.

Truth be told, I’m really very eager for the day when the iPods and other MP3 players come with Bluetooth capability built in, do not need any extender hardware and retain their svelt form factor while still supporting Bluetooth headphones.

Anyway, Dr. Bull conducted a survey of some 1,000 iPod customers. Among the things Dr. Bull seems to have taken away is that iPod listeners are bypassing advertisements (aren’t we all trying to do this?), don’t really like their mobile phones and don’t want to watch video on their portable music devices.

The second point, that about iPod listeners not liking their mobile phones is something I’m not sure I buy. While I haven’t looked at the study in-depth, I have to wonder if there isn’t some undue extrapolation going on there. They might not like their mobiles as a device, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I expect they appreciate the flexibility and potential for interconnectedness that they get from a mobile. If they’re like me they probably dislike being interrupted during certain “cocoon” times when you’re involved in reading, listening to music, eating or other activities.

I suspect that personal music players (iPods and otherwise) appeal more strongly to those who have strong desires to cocoon. Maybe what this survey points to is the need for deeper “presence” knowledge embedded into communication networks. I would love to have the ability to convey to those wishing to connect with me some sort of message that makes it clear I am vegging and would really only like to be interrupted if it’s an emergency. A few years back “presence” was a big part of conversations on Instant Messaging technologies such as Session Initiation Protocol.

The final element of the survey, the one that indicates distaste for video content on personal music devices, speaks volumes. I know this meshes with my own desires, or lack thereof. What has the potential for impact outside of the music environment is that I strongly suspect this disinterest in mobile video extends beyond music players to phones and other portable devices. I know that, more often than not, I would have no desire to see video content when I’m on the go– if only because it takes my attention away from what I’m doing. Video content has the downside that you really can’t multi-task all that well while trying to absorb video content. What I think service providers are going to find is that users are not going to be willing to pay premiums for video content because even free video content has an opportunity cost associated with it (in that it’s hard to do something else while you’re consuming it).

On a somewhat unrelated note, there was an hilarious non-sequitor in last nights episode of Family Guy. Stewies iPod commercial was sheer brilliance. I love that show, and Stewie is by far the best character.

It would have been neat but perhaps a bit of a surprise to see Podcasting get a reference.

I am a bit surprised that Griffin Technology did not get a reference in the little iPod economy slide show. Theyre the people that make the iTrip, which allows one to listen to the iPod over the radio in the car and make his daily commute something less than a living hell by listening to The Daily Source Code and Slashdot Review, among others; the iTalk, which allows one to record random audio notes to self on the iPod throughout the day and the RadioSHARK, which if the damn thing ever came off back order would allow one to record over-the-air radio broadcasts via the home computer for time-shifting via the iPod. I think Griffin are a great example of an entrepreneurial company finding a niche and addressing it really well with quality products that extend the functionality and reflect the qualities of the product theyre enhancing. Its clear that Griffin have endeavored to emulate the look, feel, simplicity and general quality of the iPod itself. (Hello, black iTrip for the U2 iPod!)

The tech and gadget press seem a bit eager to jump on exectuives saying dumb things about consumer technology, because this piece from the BBC addresses some of what are likely to be the more relevant issues for the drop in sales. Specifically the smoking ban that went into place in Ireland at the end of March, which also applies to pubs.

I was in Dublin for a few days a few months ago, and I have to say that the smoking ban made for some very interesting social developments, well beyond even those I had observed in California or New York City. When someone at a pub in Ireland wants to step outside to have a smoke, they place a coaster on top of their pint and head on out. Even if every member of their party goes out for a smoke, the other patrons seem to respect this. Nobody messes with their drinks, nobody steals their seats. I was really amazed since in Washington bar patrons barely respect the space you currently occupy.