Report: Apple Lobbying Labels To Lower Streaming Costs

Make Them A Offer They Won't Refuse

APPLE is currently meeting with the labels trying to rework its pricing structure, which would allow it to charge less than $10 a month for its BEATS streaming service, RECODE.NET reports. Sources say discussions are in their early stages, but whatever is resolved could impact how APPLE revamps the BEATS MUSIC service next year.

Getting the labels to sign off on a price cut certainly won't be easy, as a other services such as SPOTIFY  and RHAPSODY would demand similar discounts so it could charge less than $10 a month as well.

After initially resisting the notion of subscriptions, in part because they worried all-you-can-eat services would cut down on CD and download sales, music executives eventually agreed to let services like RHAPSODY, SPOTIFY and most recently BEATS offer all-you-can-stream services for $10 a month. And artist, who are already complaining about the royalties from streaming services, would be predictably enraged at anything less.

Yet many music industry observers believe that just a small percentage of consumers are willing to pay $10 a month to rent music — especially since few people spent that much money on music during the CD era. A recent survey suggested that only 25% of music streamers spent more than $10 on music every three months.

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