Are you hoping for an ad-funded, free version of Apple Music? Then you will have to hope for a very long time, because Apple has no plans at all for such a thing.
- Goes against the company’s values
- Revealed during an interrogation with British politicians
- Amazon and Spotify offer free variants
- Do not think ads generate enough revenue
In fact, Apple is so convinced that the existing subscription model is the right way, that they claim that a free version would run counter to the company’s values.
The statement came after British politicians asked representatives of Amazon, Spotify and Apple, among others, about how the companies’ music services work.
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And in response to one of the questions, the spokesperson for Apple chose to clearly mark against advertising-financed music. Something that both Amazon and Spotify offer today.
We do not believe that an ad-funded service can generate enough revenue to support a healthy ecosystem. And it would also run counter to our fundamental values of integrity.
Elean Segal, Senior Director of Music publishing at Apple
It would not be entirely unreasonable to think that Apple is using the privacy reason to smooth over the fact that they risk lower revenue if they offer a free version of Apple Music. Apple has sky-high margins and lowering these is not likely to be received positively by shareholders.
With that said, you should never say never. It may feel unreasonable right now that Apple would change the payment model on Music, but who knows what the future will offer.
What do you think about Apple’s refusal to offer a free advertising option? Good or bad?
