Apple bet on paying for its new streaming service – The World

Le Monde | 08/06/2015 at 6:48 | By Jérôme Marin (San Francisco, correspondence)

The suspense was already almost non-existent. Doug Morris, CEO of Sony Music, it has definitely ended Sunday, June 7 Asked about Apple’s new streaming service, the manager confirmed that he will be well announced on Monday at the opening of the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), the developers conference that the group with apple organizes this week in San Francisco.

The new service, whose name remains unknown, based on the supply of Beats Music, bought in May 2014 for $ 3 billion (€ 2.7 billion). It will play songs on demand. He thus placed in direct rival to Spotify, the Swedish market leader with over 60 million users. He distinguished, however on one point: it will not offer free option, ad-supported, but only a monthly $ 10 subscription

For Apple, the stakes are high.. The Cupertino company is facing declining legal downloads, a market it dominates with its iTunes platform. A growing number of people are now opting for streaming on-demand offerings. Now, Apple has lagged far behind in this field, leaving the field open to Spotify, Rhapsody or the French Deezer.

Faced with these rivals already installed, the group at the apple has not party won. As evidenced by the relative failure of iTunes Radio, a music radio service launched in 2013 to compete with Pandora. Moreover, many people, especially among the young, the habit of not paying for listening to music. They use the free offers or go to YouTube.

To succeed, Apple first put on its marketing power. “ Spotify does not advertise because they are not profitable says Morris. I think Apple will make tremendously. “ The company can also easily promote his service with hundreds of millions of iPhone and iPad users. And it should also offer them a free trial period of three months.

But the main selling point of the service could be exclusive agreements with renowned artists. Such as Taylor Swift, who was removed in 2014 all songs Spotify. Without free option, Apple may offer them higher commissions. “Whenever you impose or paid access exclusives, you encourage piracy” , however, warns the influential music critic Bob Lefsetz.