After resigning as president of Def Jam Records at year's end, rapper/hip-hop mogul Jay-Z is reportedly in negotiations to launch a new label with Apple. According to The Boy Genius Report, Jay-Z and Steve Jobs (Steve-J?) are discussing an imprint that would expand beyond hip-hop to embrace rock and country as well--while Jay-Z will not run the label a la Def Jam, he will be vital in attracting and developing new talent.
What's interesting is that late last year, Jay declined to license [1] his latest opus American Gangster to Apple's iTunes storefront because he refused to allow consumers to cherry-pick individual tracks for downloading, insisting listeners experience the album as a whole. "No one can dictate to an artist, any artist, how they should express themselves," Jay-Z said at that time. "Let me make it clear--I don't have a problem with iTunes. It's just our interests were not in line."
For more on the Apple/Jay-Z negotiations:
-read this Boy Genius Report entry [2]
Related articles:
Apple [3] to launch ringtone service via iTunes?
Apple [4], EMI lift DRM; still no Beatles on iTunes
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/warning-warner/2007-11-16
[2] http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/01/03/apple-jay-z-the-follow-up/
[3] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/apple-launch-ringtone-service-itunes/2007-09-04
[4] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/apple-emi-lift-drm-still-no-beatles-on-itunes/2007-04-02