According to a recent report, Apple is currently talking with major music labs over content licensing price cuts that they are pushing for to be applied to Beats Music. What this would result in if successful is a lower subscription fee which would go into effect sometime next year. The folks over at Re/code have stated that the talks are in their very early stages but Apple is pushing for a “new set of rights and features” from music labels ahead of the Beats Music refresh which is currently being worked on.
Although the details of the new feature continue to remain unknown, the publication states that Apple is pushing for lower content licensing fees that could potentially allow Beats to charge less than the current $10 per month fee. If you didn’t already know, the music industry has been opposed to releasing content to for-pay streaming services such as Spotify but market shifts have moved towards streaming options which have become issues for the industry. Digital download sales appear to be slowing down like the sales of CDs while streaming revenue continues to increase. Due to the nature of the streaming platforms, it’s unclear whether the dip in downloads can be attributed to free streaming or subscription services.
Just earlier this month, Apple was rumored to be shutting down Beats Music and rolling the service into iTunes Radio but the speculation was quickly debunked by the Apple spokesman, Tom Neumayr. According to Neumayr, the company has no such plans although he didn’t comment on the possibility of rebranding which others are speculating could potentially happen in the next few months.
Ultimately we’ll just have to wait and see but if all works out well, consumers will reap the benefits!
Source: Re/code
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