Apple is clearly investing in its redesigned Beats Music streaming service. Not only did it hire people like Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor and the BBC's DJ Zane to redesign the service, but it's trying to get exclusive access to certain artists.
Apple has asked alternative band Florence and the Machine to give the Beats music service exclusive access to their music. Florence is one of twelve artists that Apple is reportedly talking to for exclusive access, reports Bloomberg Businessweek. Apple also approached Taylor Swift, who pulled all of her music from Spotify last year because of its low-paying stream rates.
Apple isn't the only one trying to get exclusive access, though. Tidal, Jay-Z's high-quality audio music streaming service, is also working with 16 other artists to create an exclusive service that wouldn't let Spotify stream their music so that customers are required to either buy their album or pay for Tidal to get access to it.
While there are other music services rising, the media will be spending the most time focusing on Beats. "It'll come to the game with the advantages of a whole ecosystem of devices with a loyal and rabid fan base," Russ Crupnick, managing partner of the research firm MusicWatch, told Bloomberg Businessweek "A lot of the infrastructure is already in place."
Bloomberg was also able to dig up details about Beats' price scheme. Sources inside Apple told Bloomberg that the Beats service (which may go through a renaming) will cost $9.99 a month for an individual and $14.99 a month for families.
If Apple wants to compete, it'll have to beat Spotify and its grasp on the market, as well as YouTube, which has been expanding into music streaming for a while now.
