Apple loses Michael Jackson's next album?

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Posted Oct 14 2009, 09:41 AM by Kim Peterson

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Filed under: Apple, Amazon, Kim Peterson

Michael Jackson's upcoming new album, "This is It," will undoubtedly be a smash. But Apple (AAPL), the No. 1 music store in the country, may miss out on the whole thing.

Apple's iTunes store won't be offering downloads from the album, reports Digital Music News, citing confidential information it received.

The double-disc album releases on Oct. 26 worldwide, and Oct. 27 in North America. Michael Jackson's albums soared to the top of the charts after his death earlier this year, and it's safe to assume Apple would jump at the chance to offer "This is It."

Bing: The top 10 Michael Jackson songs

So what happened? Sony Music Entertainment and the Jackson estate only want to offer full-album downloads, reports Digital Music News. Apple insists on selling single song downloads in addition to full albums.

Now, Amazon's (AMZN) MP3 store will get the exclusive, Digital Music News reports. That's quite the score for Amazon, which is gaining ground on Apple but has been unable to shake iTunes' dominance.

Apple usually wins these conflicts, reports Peter Kafka at MediaMemo. He recalls that the group Radiohead initially balked at single-song downloads, but eventually gave in to Apple.