Apple wants record labels to give it their music for free
As it builds out its yet-to-be-announced music streaming service, Apple wants record labels to give the company the right to their music for free for the first three months, according to a New York Post report.
The upshot is that Apple is planning on making the music service totally free for the first three months - it'll normally cost $10 a month, according to the report. But Apple doesn't want to pay the record labels anything, either, during that trial period.
The Post describes what it's heard of Apple's vision for the streaming app as "the best of Pandora, Spotify and YouTube" that combines music, user-created video (in a YouTube-style portal called Apple Connect), and a new version of iTunes Radio.
And the word on the street is that Apple wants to make a service so premium that it kills the era of free streaming music like Spotify.
Along those lines, Apple wanted to include lyrics with the music service, but that report indicates the plans fell through after Apple tried to get the rights to them for free, as well.
Further, the report says, Apple is in talks with rapper Drake, singer Pharrell Williams, and DJ David Guetta to have them as guest DJs on iTunes Radio as it looks to give its music business a huge PR push alongside the launch of the streaming service. Drake's deal alone is rumored to be costing Apple around $19 million.
We're expecting to hear a lot more details about Apple's music streaming service and overall music ambitions at next week's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), so stay tuned to find out whether or not the music industry is going to march to tbe beat of Apple's drum.
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