Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) desires that users pay for its streaming music service. However, it doesn’t mean it won’t let users listen for free too.
Apple plans to charge $9.99 per month for the streaming music service. However, it will not provide a freemium streaming tier as other music services such as Spotify do.
Apple is currently working out deals for the streaming service. It is also planning to offer multiple ways to permit people listen to some music without paying. These are listed below.
- A free trial period ranging from one to three months. The length of the trial hinges on what Apple can negotiate with music firms. Listeners can sample the music service for an extended period before signing up for a full subscription.
- A functionality that will permit music owners upload a sampling of songs that users can listen to without subscribing to the service. This is somewhat similar to SoundCloud. The latter is a music sharing platform that allows users to upload and share created music.
- A fresh version of Apple’s iTunes Radio having stations programmed by humans rather than computers, which could be localized for different nations.
The European Commission, US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are all reportedly probing Apple’s plans for the relaunch. It is anticipated to be announced during the keynote at its worldwide developer’s conference (WWDC) event on 8 June. According to sources, the FTC is examining whether Apple is using its dominant position as the largest seller of music downloads to put competitor music services such as Spotify at a disadvantage.
According to other reports, Apple doesn’t wish to provide a free streaming music service, as its opponent Spotify has done for quite a while now. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) holds the view that enough money cannot be made selling ads via such service tiers.
