Apple to Introduce New Music Streaming Service, Sony Music CEO Confirms

By Dondi Tiples, Christian Post Contributor Monday, June 08, 2015

Sony Music CEO Doug Morris has confirmed Apple is set to introduce its new music streaming service at the WWDC 2015.

Apple is confirmed to be launching its new music streaming service, Apple Music at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2015) in San Francisco when the conference kicks off June 8.

The news was confirmed by Sony Music CEO Doug Morris at the Midem global music conference in Cannes the day before.

According to a June 4 Bloomberg report, Apple is still in the midst of negotiations between Sony, Warner Music, and Universal to finalize the revenue percentage the labels would be receiving. The report said the three music labels are asking for a 60 percent revenue cut from Apple.

The American technology giant is expected to charge $9.99 a month for its soon-to-be-launched service, with a free three-month trial offer. The new music app is set to be included in the upcoming iOS 8.4 update, and will come pre-installed in the iOS 9, which will reportedly be unveiled with the OS X 10.11 at the WWDC.

Apart from the streaming service, the Apple Music app will include a revised version of DJ-hosted iTunes Radio "stations"

While most music recordings today are still sold via digital stores like iTunes, streaming services are rapidly gaining a larger subscriber base, with 41 million people around the world subscribed to major players in the industry, like Deezer, Pandora, and Spotify, bringing in subscription revenues that have grown 39 percent to $1.6 billion last year, Stuff.co.nz reported.

With the sale of downloaded tunes slowing down, Apple is shifting its concentration to the growing industry of streaming music, and it is looking to grab a piece of the leading 86 percent share its rival Spotify has of the streaming music pie.