I had heard Steve Jobs was an egomaniac, but this move for greater power over content is bigger than I thought it could ever be.

Apple and News Corp, as in Fox News, have got into bed together. Yeah Faux News, the cancer of America, and Apple the apple of America are now in business together in deep and important ways. As with all Apple related news, this WILL mean something for musicians as iTunes integration will be embedded at the very least.

Rupert Murdoch, head of the media giant News Corp, and Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, are preparing to unveil a new digital “newspaper” called the Daily at the end of this month, according to reports in the US media.

Intended to combine “a tabloid sensibility with a broadsheet intelligence”, the publication represents Murdoch’s determination to push the newspaper business beyond the realm of print.

According to reports, there will be no “print edition” or “web edition”; the central innovation, developed with assistance from Apple engineers, will be to dispatch the publication automatically to an iPad or any of the growing number of similar devices.

With no printing or distribution costs, the US-focused Daily will cost 99 cents (62p) a week.

Murdoch believes the iPad is going to be a “game changer” and he has seen projections that there will be 40 million iPads in circulation by the end of 2011.

Apple has been expected to announce a subscription plan for newspapers based on the model of its iTunes music download service, but some publishers have been unwilling to let Apple in as an intermediary or let it control pricing the way iTunes has done in the music business.

And with Apple expected to dominate the tablet market until compelling competitors are introduced, Murdoch may have no choice but to ride with Jobs. According to Women’s Wear Daily, Jobs is “a major fan” of the newsprint patriarch: “When the project is announced, don’t be surprised if you see Steve Jobs onstage with Rupert Murdoch, welcoming the Dailyto the app world.” (Guardian.co.uk)

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