Beats Music Starts Selling Subscriptions Through iTunes System

Following an update today for its iPhone app, Beats Music is now accepting new subscriptions using Apple's iTunes billing system. The reason revolves around the high number of iPhone users the service has, and how hard it is to get a new subscriber without an in-app option.

The change does come with a price for Beats, however: $3 of each of its $10 monthly service rate will be paid to Apple, a price that is apparently worth it to the company. At this point, at least, there is no price hike to account for the extra fee that Beats will be shelling out.

Beats' CEO Ian Rogers said to the folks at Re/Code that the decision was based on the sheer number of iPhone users: over half of Beats Music subscribers use the Apple handset. By offering the new in-app subscription option, the number of subscribers will (the company anticipates) increase.

He went on to address speculation about the company's subscriber numbers, saying, "We've had far more people try the product than projected. Clearly the marketing works. The conversion rate on the AT&T plan is off the charts. It's safe to say the biggest problem is converting iOS users, and we've just fixed that."

SOURCE: Re/code