∞ Apple, publishers still at odds over magazine subscription details

Apple and magazine publishers still can’t agree on terms to get magazine subscriptions in the App Store.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]There are a number of items at issue — not surprisingly, items that magazines have always had control over in their long business history. According to AllThingsD, publishers want to sell subscriptions themselves and/or hang on to users personal data.

According to the report, Apple says no. Which makes sense for Apple — it’s hard to take a cut of the pie if the magazines are dealing directly with the customers and cutting Apple out.

Apple is offering publishers 70 percent of each sale, the ability to sell subscriptions through iTunes and they can offer subscribers an opt-in form to give publishers their personal information.

As AllThingsD points out, there are a couple of magazines like Newsweek and People that are available now, but that’s clearly only a small fraction of what could be on iTunes.