The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly taking a closer look into Appleâs business practices ahead of the rumored Beats Music relaunch, with DOJ officials having already interviewed high-ranking music industry executives about Appleâs business habits, The Verge reported [1] Monday.
Citing multiple sources, the publication claims that Appleâs âaggressive tacticsâ have garnered scrutiny from DOJ, which has apparently taken issue with Appleâs push to kill free Spotify streaming ahead of Beats relaunch. If true, the cunning move has the potential to reduce competition for Appleâs music service as popular service like YouTube, Pandora, Rdio and others are also the target.
Spotify, which currently enjoys sixty million listeners, fifteen million of which are paid accounts, stands to lose a lot should Apple have its way.
The Verge has learned that the Cupertino firm has been âusing its considerable power in the music industryâ to stop the music labels from renewing Spotifyâs license to stream music through its free tier.
âAll the way up to Tim Cook, these guys are cutthroat,â an unnamed music industry reportedly told the publication.
âSources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTubeâs music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube,â reads the story.
Due later this year, the reimagining of Beats Music â" presumably under the iTunes umbrella â" would give Apple a footing in the hot music-streaming space as the company has for years ignored subscription-based services from the likes of Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music.
Digital music sales have been in a steep decline for the past two years. Just a month ago, the European Unionâs Competition Commission began in investigation into these same allegations [2] . Interestingly enough, the European Commission has originally approved Appleâs $3 billion Beats buy .
The Beats overhaul , due at WWDC, is said to feature exclusive content , an Android app  and more , with Apple planning on using its brand power and industry contacts to have Taylor Swift and other big name artists promote the forthcoming service .
Industry sources previously said Apple had to back down from its effort to lower monthly pricing for its subscription service to $7.99 from $9.99 because record labels wouldnât play ball.
Links
- ^ reported (www.theverge.com)
- ^ investigation into these same allegations (nypost.com)
- ^ The Verge (www.theverge.com)
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