Apple Reportedly Aiming For Paid iTunes Streaming - No Free Option

Remember the Taylor Swift/Spotify slap-fight? She yanked her music because the streaming service wasn't paying enough, and they retorted she was making a ton of cash. It drug on for a bit, but she was ultimately right — streaming doesn't pay artists enough, especially when it's free for consumers. In discussing their new iTunes music streaming option, Apple execs are reportedly telling record labels to "get behind a paywall". As such, their new service is not believed to offer any type of free tier.

This may put to rest any discussion that Apple could be aiming to please everyone, offering both an unlimited option as well as other tiered pay-to-play levels, ultimately reaching a severely bootstrapped free-to-stream nadir. Rather than go after Pandora's model, Apple is expected to launch an all-inclusive paid service.

Though the new iTunes streaming service may come with a free trial, it will likely force users into a paid model soon enough. The current talk of such a paid option has apple entertaining a $7.99/month price point.

This is exactly how Beats plays it, too. After a 14-day trial, new users are forced into a paid service. Beats currently charges $10/month.

Interestingly enough, the discussions are also said to circle around artists releasing music on iTunes' streaming service first. Remember when Beyoncé dropped her album on iTunes without ever saying a word about it? It seems that may have been an experiment to gauge the response to such a thing.

Aside from tempering your expectations for this possibly incoming iTunes service, it could have a ripple effect throughout the industry. If record labels find better monetization with a paid service rather than a freemium model, others like Spotify may be forced to change their direction. The service is no good without the music, and labels control the music. If they want money, they'll get it.

Source: Re/Code