Apple is ramping up efforts to push Beats Music and that could be the case if they are successful in striking deals with leading artists such as Taylor Swift, Florence the Machine and many more.
Apple is seeking to strike a deal that would allow them limited streaming rights which will eventually be used as bait to lure music customers to pay for the exclusive music.
Apple is apparently resorting to a similar tactic that rival Tidal has been doing. Tidal, owned by Jay Z and 16 other musicians, try to get ahead before tracks make their way to sites such as Spotify and YouTube which allows them to listen in gratis but with ads.
Apple intends to relaunch Beats Music come this Summer although the name could be revised. A $9.99 monthly subscription fee will be charged to individual subscribers although a family plan priced at $14.99 will also be available. To recall, Apple bought Beats Electronics for a cool $3 billion back in May of 2014.
As a basis for comparison, Tidal charges the same $9.99 monthly subscription fee. They also have a $19.99 high fidelity fee.
The move is seen as something to help boost the leverage of iTunes and iTunes Radio in a move that hopes to cramp it up as far as the online destinations for music. Among the sites that are currently dominating that niche include Google's YouTube (which is now offering an ad-free service called Music Key priced at $9.99 a month) and of course Spotify which has approximately 60 million users.
Swift has become a prime target for Apple, especially after the popular artist pulled her entire catalog from Spotify for refusing to restrict her album 1989.
But all this would depend on whether users would be open to the idea of paying for music subscriptions. And while majority of the market are skeptical, considering some people may need further convincing on why they would have to pay for such a service despite the exclusivity angle.
