Recently the Canonical Online Services team, led by Cristian Parrino, has been in discussions with the Banshee project to coordinate a suitable revenue share for the built-in Amazon store. Unfortunately, there were a few crossed wires, but a call today helped to clarify the position.

For clarity, Cristian wanted to pass on the plan for Ubuntu 11.04 to the Ubuntu community, so here is a copy of the email he shared with the Banshee core developers after the call today:

Thanks again for the call, your participation and understanding is very much appreciated.

As discussed, I wanted to follow up with the plan I outlined on the call – and reiterate my apologies and responsibility for a situation that has resulted in the worst outcome for everyone, including putting the Banshee team in an awkward position. As such:

• In Ubuntu 11.04, Banshee will have both the AmazonMP3 and Ubuntu One music stores turned on by default.
• We will contribute 25% of the revenue from the AmazonMP3 store to the GNOME Foundation.
• We will also also start contributing 25% of revenue from the Ubuntu One Music Store on both Banshee and Rhythmbox, to the GNOME Foundation.

Recognizing that it is important to not only bring choice to Ubuntu users, but to also generate revenue to continue our investment in Ubuntu, and to ensure we can contribute effectively to the GNOME Foundation – we believe this plan fairly addresses the interests of all parties.