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FTC Officials Looking Into Apple's Streaming Business Model, Say Sources
Apple may have a bigger business problem than displeasing Taylor Swift with its new Apple Music service; According to Reuters, U.S. regulators are said (by anonymous sources) to be looking into Apple's treatment of music-streaming rivals, now that the company has gone from selling only downloadable music to competing directly with alternatives like Spotify and Pandora. A slice:
While $9.99 has emerged as the going monthly rate for music subscriptions, including Apple's, some streaming companies complain that Apple's cut forces them to either charge more in the App Store than they do on other platforms or erode their profit margins.
The Federal Trade Commission is looking at the issue but has not begun a formal investigation, said the three industry sources, who requested anonymity. The agency has had meetings with multiple concerned parties, one source said. The agency meets with companies routinely, and a formal investigation may not materialize.
I don't know if they'd be able to easily do that as the information that has come out has suggested they're already giving something like $.72 of every dollar to the record companies, so the only way to pay another division $.30 of every dollar would be to operate at a loss, which would likely lead to a different investigation for what amounts to dumping.
The easier approach would be for Apple to have their service follow the same guidelines where it can't have in-app sign-up which would preclude it from paying the other department and place it squarely within the same set of rules as its competitors.
In reality it's far more legally complicated than that as some non-Apple entity wouldn't have gotten the same deal as any entity that is or is some sub-part of Apple itself.