Apple would definitely have something to gain by restricting access to cloud services like Amazon’s and Google’s if they wanted to keep their massive user base on iTunes. But just because they have something to gain doesn’t mean they’d do that, right? James Clancey of Interactive Innovative Solutions (IIS), has been having some issues with a few apps that seem to suggest they might just be doing exactly that.
IIS had two apps that ventured into this territory, and at the moment, they only have one. The apps, gMusic and aMusic, let you listen to music stored on Google Music Beta and Amazon Cloud Drive, respectively. Available for $2 a pop, it was a pretty good cost proposition. The issue is that now, aMusic has mysteriously disappeared from the app store and gMusic is dealing with an inexplicably delayed app update, according to Clancey.
Of course, the app probably didn’t just “disappear.” Clancey mentions “legal issues in the music industry,” which is presumably how Apple explained the matter, if they did at all. It’s an ominous and suspiciously catch-all excuse. As for gMusic, Clancey says that the most recent update has been pending for 2 weeks. All the previous updates were approved within 8 hours of submission. No word on why that is happening.
Now, none of this proves that Apple is trying to choke out Google Music and the Amazon Cloud Drive at least as far as they interfere with iTunes and the iCloud. In fact, the whole “legal issues” thing, while vague, is not at all uncommon. When was the last time there weren’t confusing legal issues in the music industry? The evidence is mostly circumstantial, but can look pretty bad if you come at it from the right angle. The gMusic update troubles, for example, don’t seem overtly malicious in the slightest sense, but on the other hand, neither are they easily explained away.
Who knows what’s actually going on with gMusic, but Clancey says the aMusic outage is temporary. He can’t give a date when it may be back, but it hasn’t been shut down for good or anything. In all likelihood, Apple will continue to support the apps, begrudgingly, because it has to. However, there are all kinds of things that go on behind the scenes, and if Apple is willing to play hardball in the cloud, things could get messy.
(Evolver.fm via CNET)
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