The problem is that it's a very difficult business to start and run and has less money in it than the Movie and TV industry.
The only way to make it work would be for all their web content to be firewalled, and force people to get it through iTunes Store instead. And also to get basically all the major newspapers and magazines to sign on to the scheme. It would probably be more difficult to achieve than negotiating with the music labels for their catalogs. But the longer they keep bleeding cash, the easier the negotiations will get.
This is the model Kachingle have tried and Contenture tried. And a few others, actually. Nobody's made it stick yet. Apart from Apple I could see PayPal, Google and Facebook trying to make it work.
The problem is that no major media source is going to trust a different major corporaton with their livelihoods in any all-or-nothing scheme. So there's room for a smaller player to grow into the role. Which is what I've been working on.
> The only way to make it work would be for all their web content to be firewalled, and force people to get it through iTunes Store instead.
Actually, no it's not. It's possible to do this reliably without forcing everyone through a paywall.
I know, because I developed a technology to do exactly this.
It allows publishers to selectively allow users through based on a general aggregate scheme alongside their own paywall schemes. Or they can be open to the web and collect from members only.
It likely won't be enough to end problems for publishers but could at least open up a revenue stream that doesn't exist.
I call it "microsubscription" as it combines elements of subscription and micropayments.
Persons wishing to hear more are invited to email me.
Music and video are different in that the monetary values are greater than individual monetary values of news articles. It's easy to win damages on a/v DMCA violations, but not so on articles from a bundled periodical.