Sony Music CEO Confirms Launch of Apple's Music Streaming Service

An anonymous reader writes: Sony Music CEO Doug Morris said in an interview that Apple will announce a new music streaming service tomorrow at its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). The new Apple Music service will include subscription streaming music features as well as a revamped iTunes Radio service. "What does Apple bring to this?" Morris said. "Well, they've got $178 billion in the bank. And they have 800 million credit cards in iTunes. Spotify has never really advertised because it's never been profitable. My guess is that Apple will promote this like crazy and I think that will have a halo effect on the streaming business. A rising tide will lift all boats," he added. "It's the beginning of an amazing moment for our industry."

Comments

Pandora

[Noah Haders]

I think apple is a little late to this. They tried apple radio a couple years ago and it didn't work. insider interviews confirmed that the point was not to get people to listen to the radio, but rather to convert people to buy the songs from itunes. this was patently transparent. At the time I started using pandora and paying $4 through the app store subscription. I have a dozen really cool stations that I have curated through dozens of thumbs up / thumbs down / song seeds. I would need to see something really compelling tomorrow if i'm to be convinced to try something else, let alone in addition.

Re:Pandora

[whoever57]

Those people who already use something like Spotify or Pandora won't immediately switch, but I guess that Apple expects that there will be a very large number of people who have never used an Internet radio service that will sign up for Apple's service.

Reducing friction in the sign-up process will certainly make a difference and I expect that Apple will make it easy to sign up.

Re:Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

Surprisingly, you and the US aren't the only people in the world.

Walled Garden

[GuldKalle]

So, seeing as they are becoming competitors, when will Spotify disappear from the Apple App Store?

Re:Walled Garden

[kthreadd]

Nothing requires Apple to carry everything in their store. They can deny any app for whatever reason they want.

Re:Walled Garden

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would they remove Spotify?

They already carry Google Music in App Store, do we have more conspiracy theories while we're at it?

Re:Walled Garden

[ioErr]

So, seeing as they are becoming competitors, when will Spotify disappear from the Apple App Store?

Has Apple ever removed a major competitor's app from the store? After it was approved?

Re:Walled Garden

[Kjella]

It would absolutely be legal in Europe. Stores in Europe are free to chose what they want to sell and not, they are not required to carry everyone that wants to.

Microsoft has already paid over a billion dollar in fines to the EU over anti-trust charges, they've had the browser selection screen, the forced unbundling of WMP... technically you're correct, they will never force Apple to ship Spotify. What they will do is to say that banning Spotify in favor of their own in-house app is an anti-competitive practice and fine them millions of dollars per day until it ends. The most relevant article in the EU treaty is 102 that explicitly mentions blocking off markets in section (b):

Article 102
(ex Article 82 TEC)
Any abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position within the internal market or in a substantial part of it shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market in so far as it may affect trade between Member States.
Such abuse may, in particular, consist in:
(a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions;
(b) limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers;
(c) applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;
(d) making the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.

It hinges on the definition of dominant though and while many factors come into play a market share of >40% is considered a minimum. I think even if you consider smartphones a sub-market Apple isn't dominant anymore. Basically if you're just one of many players you can do whatever you like, it's only if you have 40-100% market share you need to consider anti-trust.

On a more practical note, no way Apple would dare ban Spotify. It'd piss off way too many people. Part of the "walled garden" is that you must make it look like a gated community and not a prison. Though I'm guessing you might end up with only grandfathered applications, if you start a new music streaming service next month you might get rejected.

Re:Walled Garden

[SvnLyrBrto]

They didn't remove Pandora when they launched iTunes Radio. They didn't remove the Kindle app when they launched iBooks. Netflix is still available, despite the existence of the Movie and TV sections of the iTunes store. Chrome is available as an alternative to Safari. And when Apple dumped Google maps from its default position, Google fairly quickly came up with a less embarrassingly out-of-date maps app that's in the app store right now.

Why should it be any different with Spotify?

Re:Thousands of Internet Radio stations

[Opportunist]

Because Apple.

It worked before, why shouldn't it this time?

Re:Sounds like paid PR...

[ColdWetDog]

Actually, pretty much anything that Slashdot pans seems to make it big.

The iPod, Windows, Bill Gates, the iPhone, the iPad, the iWatch.

We like Nokia, Blackberry and god help us, Windows phone.

There is a lesson here....

Re:Fuck it, why not

[Carewolf]

"It's the beginning of an amazing moment for our industry."

I'd appreciate if someone would pull the CEO of Sony out from under his rock and let him know it's the year 2015.

You've got to be fucking kidding me with this. As if no one has ever heard of a streaming music service before.

On a related note (ba dum tiss), must be fun to be a board member for Apple. Fuck it, why not has become the financial motto, especially when identifying cash-on-hand as the justification here.

Considering their cash on hand, they actually seem surprisingly reluctant with new ideas.

Re:Rising tide?

[markdavis]

Exactly.

>"It's the beginning of an amazing moment for our industry"

More like additional fuel to end the "owning" of anything. Streaming is great when you are connected, don't mind someone watching what you are doing, and don't care that you can be fed things you don't want.

Look at the reaction to even the CONCEPT of Netflix having commercials...