In 2003, iTunes had just launched and was starting to put music in its store. During this time, Apple and Steve Jobs invited hundreds of people from small record labels and distributors to a meeting to convince them to give Apple their entire catalog of music. It was a great opportunity for independent music to be heard through a major outlet.
After the meeting, Derek Sivers of CD Baby posted his meeting notes on his website thinking that everything was fine, but got a rude awakening. Apple berated him for posting information about the meeting which was apparently confidential. Read on at Music Think Tank to how Jobs dissed Sivers.
“This was huge to me, because until 2003, independent musicians were always denied access to the big outlets. For Apple to sell all music, not just artists who had signed their rights away to a corporation, this was amazing!” (Read On)
