At WWDC last week Apple had made it clear that all new customers of Apple Music will get a three month free trial. Beats Music subscribers will be able to transfer over their playlists and music libraries over to the company’s new music service.

It was unclear whether or not Beats Music subscribers will get the same three month Apple Music free trial as other customers, or will they continue to pay for service. A reader over at TodaysiPhone.com reached out to Apple and has received a reply:

Beats Music subscribers will get a 3 month trial to Apple Music to take advantage of all the great features and expanded catalog.

Apple has since then updated their Beats Music FAQ to further clarify the situation. Apple Music is set to launch on June 30th, alongside iOS 8.4. Lastly, all iTunes customers will have a free three month trial. Will you be subscribing? Continue reading this post ->

As the days go by, Apple is finding itself in a pretty tough situation over it’s upcoming music streaming service. Citing multiple sources, the United States Federal Trade Commission has took a deeper look into Apple’s deals with music labels. The agency is reportedly looking into the possible misuse of the company’s dominant market position as the world largest seller of music downloads. Stating that the iTunes owner is putting services such as Spotify, Rdio and YouTube at a disadvantage.

The FTC has already spoken with more than one record label regarding Apple’s business practices. The company has also reportedly talked to more than a handful of artists about music exclusivity rights. Apparently, Apple is trying to convince record labels to go away from “curtail ad-supported music and push more songs into paid tiers of service at higher rates”.

The revamped Beats Music service is reportedly supposed to be unveiled at Apple’s annual WWDC conference in June, featuring integration in Apple’s existing music app in the company’s upcoming iOS 8.4 update. Continue reading this post ->

Earlier this week, The Verge reports that the Department of Justice (DoJ) is looking into Apple’s business practices ahead of the rumored Beats Music revamp and integration into iOS. The DoJ has already taken interviews of highly-ranked music industry executives about the matter.

Apple’s “aggressive tactics” has gotten the attention of the DoJ, which contradicts with Apple’s push to kill free music streaming services such as Spotify, cites multiple sources. If the company does take on this move, they have a potential of killing services such as YouTube, Rdio and Pandora.

The report goes onto say that Apple is “using its considerable power in the music industry” to stop labels from renewing its deal with Spotify to stream music free. “Sources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTube’s music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube.”

Alongside its music streaming service, which, presumably is going to be running under the iTunes brand, Apple tried to reduce the price on its upcoming streaming service. Typically, services like Spotify or Rdio offer its premium unlimited ad-free service at $9.99, though Apple is trying to push a reported failed pricing of $7.99. Continue reading this post ->

Unlike iTunes Radio, Apple’s upcoming beats-based music streaming service won’t offer a free, ad-free version, according to Re/code. This doesn’t mean they won’t offer a free trial to the service. According to anonymous sources who talked to SVP Eddy Cue and Beats Music co-founder Jimmy Iovine, the leads behind the project. The music business “needs to get behind a paywall.”

“Sources say Apple would like to make a splash by getting high-profile artists to distribute their music with Apple before it makes its way to other services,” the report says. The timing of the services couldn’t have been more perfect.

Sony Music, back in November, said they were reevaluating the free music streaming service. Warner Music Group CEO Stephen Cooper also noted that they were losing interest in the ad-based free music streaming industry. In terms of pricing, Apple will be providing a more affordable price point of $8 a month. In comparison, Spotify, Rdio and other similar services charge a $10 premium.

The streaming service is rumored to become available as apart of an upcoming iOS 8.4 update, integrated directly into the stock music app. Continue reading this post ->