Steve Jobs on iTunes Music: Madonna Joins the Store
What Jobs talks about
Steve Jobs uses this Apple promotional segment to announce that Madonna is putting all 15 of her albums on iTunes, sold album by album and song by song. He frames it as a major moment for fans who have wanted her catalog online.
He then calls Madonna in London over iChat and thanks her for joining iTunes. Their exchange is light and playful, with Jobs praising her style and asking about her new album.
The conversation also touches on her reluctance to digitize her music until now, and on how Apple users will now be able to buy her songs. It is a small but revealing example of Jobs positioning iTunes as a destination for major artists.
Jobs speaks with Madonna over iChat, with a brief introductory voiceover before the call.
In his words
“Madonna is announcing that she is putting all her albums on iTunes”
“I would like to thank her.”
“I tried to hold on as long as possible.”
“You have to stop being so prolific.”
“We will sell many of your songs to you.”
Key points
- Madonna is bringing all 15 of her albums to iTunes.
- The songs will be available both album by album and track by track.
- Jobs thanks Madonna for joining iTunes and praises her style.
- Madonna says she waited as long as possible before putting her songs online.
- They joke about her new album and about her iPod habits.
- The segment highlights iTunes as a major music marketplace for top artists.
Full transcript
The second exclusive content we have today is also very exciting, and it's Madonna. Madonna has resisted until now to put all her songs online. You can buy some albums elsewhere, but never buy songs. And today, Madonna is announcing that she is putting all her albums on iTunes, all her 15 albums on iTunes, album by album and by song. And we are very, very excited about this. So, of course, there is an entire page of Madonna and all the albums, and I think it was worth waiting. So, what should we do about it? Well, I would like to thank her. So let's see if we can call her.
She is in London, and Aisha Tave doesn't know Frontier Sun. So let's see if we can talk to her right now. Hello. How are you? Good. We have to stop meeting like this. Yes. And I would like to thank you for putting all your songs on iTunes. We are very excited about this. And you know, I know you follow your own rhythm, but when you decide to do things, you do them in a great style. So thank you. Yes. You're welcome. I tried to hold on as long as possible.
But I'm tired of not being able to download my own songs. You have a new album coming out soon. Do you want to tell us about it? Yes. The name is Revenge of the Broken Arm. No, the name is Compassions on a Dance Floor. And I just got the dance virus and decided to make an album full of dance music. So I hope you are with your family and friends. Great. We can't wait. Now, do you have an iPod? Of course I do. Which one? That's too much. Which one? I don't have one. Really? Every time I get a new one, it comes out the next week. I don't have it.
Really? Every time I get a new one, it comes out the next week. Every time I get a new one, it comes out the next week. You have to stop being so prolific. Yes. Well, we can disappoint you again today. Thank you very much. We will sell many of your songs to you. I'm very excited to hear that. Thank you. Take care. You too. Thank you.
Transcribed from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.