Spotify Could Limit Some Content To Its Premium Subscribers

Record labels were questioned about their dealings with Apple to determine if the iPhone and iPad maker used its market strength to try to gain an unfair advantage in the streaming music space. If Apple were able to convert most of its existing user base into paying members, the company would already have half the number of paid members of Spotify, the current leader in music streaming. Perhaps a partially curated TV model a’la Apple Music is not only necessary, but an exciting feature that might help differentiate Apple’s rumored TV service when it happens to launch. This could mean that certain releases will be available only to premium accounts, or only be released to free-users for a limited time period.

With label contract renewals apparently still undecided ahead of an October 1 deadline, Spotify is said to be feeling the pressure to find a solution to please all parties.

The change could happen as soon as early next year, Digital Music News reports.

Apple will not offer a free trial once a user’s initial three months runs out, meaning that many who simply didn’t use it to begin with will likely just delete it off of their phones.

As of now, Spotify’s free-tier users still have access to everything.

However, Apple Music’s listener numbers could well drop when the initial free trial expires – at the end of September, for all those who signed up on launch day.

A total of 69% also said they believe there should be more controls available to hide things from the past. Apple has set a target to reach 100 million paid subscribers in the future.

Swift has argued music should not be free and she has a point: Spotify generates only a tiny amount of income for artists through royalties.

According to a European Commission investigation, Apple did not collude with the music labels in launching Apple Music without a permanent freemium, advertiser supported plan.