idasein asked:
Do you think Beats Music will be free with an iPhone 6? Spotify-type services are one of those things people don't know they need until they have them. Free Beats Music on iPhone 6 would mean iPhone 6 owners simply have better music than everyone else. "If you don't have an iPhone..." As the technology becomes commoditized, bundling expensive, essential services is a great differentiator. Also 100 million paid subscribers = Apple saves music industry (again).
It’s a good question, but I suspect Apple will maintain the paid offering (with a free trial). You could certainly argue they could and should make it free (paying for the music themselves), but I think they worry just as much about the signal that would send to the music industry. Something like: “your art is just a subsidy we pay to sell more devices” — which, when you think about it, isn’t far from reality. But I highly doubt they want to go in that direction so explicitly.
blackswaneuroparedux