From CNET: Twelve years ago, with the launch of the iTunes music store, Apple changed how we purchase and listen to music. Now it hopes to shake things up again -- despite playing catchup this time around.
Apple is expected to debut a subscription streaming-music service, making it one of the central announcements at the company's annual developers conference next week in San Francisco. Consider it a reboot of the Beats Music streaming service it purchased last year.
Apple shelled out $3 billion to buy headphones maker Beats -- by far its biggest acquisition ever -- and Beats Music, a fledgling subscription music service that gives members all-you-can-eat access to songs for $10 a month, was part of the package. Since the deal closed in August, Beats Music has been in a holding pattern while rivals like Spotify grow rapidly and newcomers, such as Jay Z's Tidal, enter the market. But as Apple has shown before, the game isn't over until the Cupertino, Calif., consumer electronics giant tries to change it.
Apple's music service could once again change up how consumers purchase music by placing a spotlight on the burgeoning trend of music subscriptions. Instead of paying 99 cents a track, consumers pay a monthly fee -- reportedly $10 a month -- for access to virtually any song they want. The company's embrace of subscriptions comes amid shifting patterns in how consumers listen to and purchase music. The question is, can Apple take advantage of the shift?
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