Apple appears set to abandon its plans to offer the rebranded Beats streaming music service for less than the $9.99/month charged by Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music. Billboard reports that Apple’s attempts to use its clout to negotiate better deals with record labels have been unsuccessful.
Negotiations for Apple’s upcoming subscription service are evidence labels are standing firm on pricing. Industry sources say Apple has backed down from its effort to lower monthly pricing for its subscription service to $7.99 from $9.99.
The report says that the deals offered by the labels would have left Apple losing money if it had gone ahead with its plan to offer the service for the rumored $7.99/month …
Earlier reports suggested that Apple had originally hoped to offer the service for just $5/month, half the price of existing services, before scaling back its ambitions to the $7.99 level. It now appears likely Apple will be forced to go with the standard $9.99/month pricing.
Billboard also reports that Apple’s hopes that it might be able to negotiate exclusive releases more easily than its competitors have likewise been thwarted.
An industry source dismisses rumors that Apple will be able to outmaneuver and outbid its competitors on exclusives for most key releases. “Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world. If they want exclusive content, they’re going to have to get out the checkbook.”
Google Play Music did originally offer a $7.99/month price for early subscribers, but standard pricing is $9.99/month.
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I’m less concerned about the price and more concerned about when it will finally launch.
It’s long overdue for Apple to start its own label. They now also have industry veterans within their executive ranks that can make that happen a lot more easily. Starting off with an acquisition might be a good jumpstart though.
If Apple believe that their solution is poised to earn profits for the music industry, then show the other labels how it’s done.
If thats the case then Beats wont take any subscribers from other services who have already created their massive libraries. Sat on your butts negotiating too long and nothing to show for it.
I don’t care what the music industry says. I personally won’t pay more than 6 dollars a month to us any streaming music services. Since they are useless to me personally if I’m not on a good wifi connection to enjoy it. I’m still willing to purchase albums or select songs to have on my device to be accessed anytime I want. I think if the music industry lowered the price a bit they would have a lot more people using this type of service besides anyway.
Apple isn’t just offering a streaming service. If you would just read beyond the name ‘streaming’ service you would know that you can DOWNLOAD, DRM music so long as you are SUBSCRIBED.
Many others use this same model too…
I bloody can’t stand the record labels, bunch of greedy, old-school farts that just care about lining their own pockets.
This is one of those times I wish Apple would just use some of its financial muscle and start buying out and shutting down these outfits, and become a fair record label itself, one that puts more money back into the hands of those who deserve it most, the artists!
Well, if they can’t offer me lower price than Spotify – why would I change service? I pay $7 a month for a shared Spotify Family. Spotify Student costs $5 a month and there is always Spotify Free.