Apple Pushing for $5 Beats Music Subscriptions as Spotify Debuts Discounted Family Plan

[MacRumors]

As previously reported, Apple plans to relaunch its recently acquired Beats Music subscription early next year and hopes to offer the service with with a lowered monthly cost. According to new "industry scuttlebut" relayed to Re/code, Apple is pushing music labels to cut streaming music subscription prices in half to $5 per month.

The logic of Apple's argument, relayed by people who've heard the pitch secondhand: Apple's best iTunes buyers spend about $60 a year on downloaded music -- $5 a month. So if subscription services dropped that low, any download buyers that switched over to the streaming model would generate just as much revenue for the music labels. And, more important, the market of potential subscribers would get much larger.

Any reduction offered to Apple would be available to other services, making it less likely music industry executives would approve of a 50 percent discount. Re/code notes Apple will more likely meet the music labels in the middle with a monthly fee in the range of $7-8.

While Apple negotiates the terms for its Beats Music streaming service, rival Spotify is upping the ante with a new Spotify Family plan. Similar to Rdio's Unlimited Family plan, Spotify Family allows a premium subscriber to add up to four additional members for $4.99/month each, a 50 percent discount off the regular $9.99 individual premium plan. Spotify announced the family plans today and will roll then out globally in the coming weeks.

Article Link: Apple Pushing for $5 Beats Music Subscriptions as Spotify Debuts Discounted Family Plan

 

[silvetti]

Please come to Europe

 

[lewismayell]

I hope beats doesn't mess up iTunes radio

 

[bbeagle]

I hope beats doesn't mess up iTunes radio

They'll morph into the same thing someday down the road.

 

[saha-med]

Thats where the mac mini savings go to....

Or to make the new iphone thinner

 

[fa8362]

I wouldn't pay 1 cent per month for it. There's free music everywhere.

 

[IscariotJ]

Please come to Europe

With ya there, though I'm not holding out much hope, since iTunes Radio shows no signs of heading this way....

 

[beany boy]

So what happens to dummy's like me who paid $99 for a year last month?

 

[RedOrchestra]

Apple, once again, wringing and stretching the content suppliers BUT holding firm on their profit margins. Pretty soon there won't be any content.

 

[kilcher]

With so many free options and being able to keep all of my music on my phone, I still don't get the appeal of paying for radio.

If I were starting from scratch with no music maybe - maybe that's why this appeals to younger people. But I have all of my CD's and years worth of purchases on my phone - anything I want to listen to is there.

 

[JBaker122586]

I wouldn't pay 1 cent per month for it. There's free music everywhere.

Who would buy a loaf of bread when you can just steal it?

 

[DEXTERITY]

Who would buy a loaf of bread when you can just steal it?

He is obviously a fan on Winston. Next he will be stealing crab legs as well.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Wow, the biggest music spenders on iTunes buy the equivalent of a $10 CD every 2 months. I remember buying an album a week in high school!

 

[Bubba Satori]

He is obviously a fan on Winston. Next he will be stealing crab legs as well.

Don't forget to get an autograph and mug a girlfriend.

 

[decimortis]

Who would buy a loaf of bread when you can just steal it?

While I agree with your sentiment, I'm not entirely sure he was talking about stealing music. I'm listening to free music streaming on Songza right now. The odd ad here and there keeps it at an affordable zero dollars per month.

D.

 

[cleirac]

I wouldn't pay 1 cent per month for it. There's free music everywhere.

Ah, you meant illegal music d/l and some shifty youtubing or samples of a little bit of this or that - not quality and legal music all you need, want, hope or wish for anytime and anywhere (in the comfort / palm of your smart devices) that support the artists.

 

[rdlink]

Who would buy a loaf of bread when you can just steal it?

Well let's not assume he's stealing music. iTunes Radio is free. And I'll tell you that, even though my personal music library has over 3000 songs in it, I listen to iTunes Radio almost exclusively these days. Tried out Beats for the free trial. I think the interface is too kludgy and confusing, but I like the concept. Hope Apple cleans it up some with the re-launch.

 

[bounou]

Just switched to Spotify from Rdio, mostly because i wanted to be able to manage my music all from one app, the stuff i already have and the stuff i stream.

What i need is a streaming service that lets me use the music i already have and lets me buy the stuff that is not available from the service (for whatever reason not all songs/albums are at all times).

I want one app to run my music, for the stuff already on my computer and the stuff i stream.

If Beats does that and it plays nice with Sonos i will be switching over.

 

[fa8362]

Ah, you meant illegal music d/l and some shifty youtubing or samples of a little bit of this or that - not quality and legal music all you need, want, hope or wish for anytime and anywhere (in the comfort / palm of your smart devices) that support the artists.

There's free legal music everywhere.

 

[xero9]

Come to Canada, then we'll talk.

 

[MaxSB7]

Expand the library, integrate the streamable beats music seamlessly with the rest of my iTunes library, and I'd be glad to pay $10 or more per month. That's the only thing keeping me away from these streaming services. None of them let you integrate music you own into their libraries. I know you can add stuff to spotify in playlists, but that isn't the same as adding music directly to the library. That's so unorganized and obligatory.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Who would buy a loaf of bread when you can just steal it?

Yes, just like music, the baker can make one loaf of bread and then copy it as many times as he wants and for as long as he wants for $0.

 

[fa8362]

Who would buy a loaf of bread when you can just steal it?

There's no need to steal it. It's freely available and legal. TV too.

 

[macduke]

I've switched around a bit in the last few years. Has the Spotify app stopped being a glitchy mess with poor design? I like Rdio but the cheaper family plan at Spotify is tempting. Otherwise it's worth the extra monthly cost just for the good design/stable app. Rdio also finally upped the stream quality to 320kbps AAC and now has fine grained controls for WiFi and Cellular.

 

[BassPlayer]

I pay the $10/month for Spotify Premium. As a musician in a cover band, I need to be able to access a good quality version of songs when it's time to learn them. I make a playlist, listen to the songs when I'm out and about, then go home and the playlist is right there for me to learn.

If Apple/Beats will do this for cheaper (with the same or larger library), I'm in.