The Financial Times have reported that the Beats streaming service will be added to all future iPhones and iPads. The Spotify rival will come pre-installed on all devices from the new year and its said that it will be part of its next iOS operating system. The Beats company, which has become renowned for its Dr Dre-created headphones was bought by Apple for $3 billion earlier this year. Apple have yet to respond to the newspaper’s claims, but it was the Financial Times that broke the story of the original deal.
Beats Music is being seen as the strongest threat yet to market dominator Spotify and comes at a time when downloads from the iTunes music store are declining, with more and more music fans choosing streaming over purchased downloads. It’s thought that Apple will be able to attract scores of new customers by pre-installing the Beats app.
Streaming has been in the headlines this week, with I Knew You Were Trouble hitmaker Taylor Swift pulling her music from Spotify, saying that musicians aren’t getting a fair deal from the service. The singer was criticized by veteran star Billy Bragg when rumors surfaced that she had signed a deal with Google’s new Music Key service. A New England star Bragg accused her of taking sides in “corporate power play” rather than taking a sincere stand on behalf of struggling artists. Apple and U2 came under fire earlier this year by sending the Irish band’s new album to all iPhone users whether they wanted it or not.
So, do you think the Beats streaming service will offer anything different? Perhaps you feel there are too many streaming services already? Tell us below.