Apple to bundle Beats music app with iOS from next year
Apple is said to be working on the full integration of its Beats’ music subscription service with future iterations of its iOS operating system, according to industry reports.
Launching as early as next year the app would likely operate under the iTunes banner and is being readied to meet growing demand for mobile radio, with US adults spending around 32 minutes per day listening to such service, up from 26 minutes un 2013 according to eMarketer.
The market research agency calculates that 83.8m US citizens will listen to music via streaming or direct download in 2014, with the majority using Pandora, equivalent to half of all smartphone users.
Paul Verna, senior analyst at eMarketer, said: "If Apple does embed the Beats music subscription service into upcoming iOS releases, it won't guarantee a leading share of the subscription market currently dominated by Spotify and Pandora. But it is consistent with Apple's strategy of steering users toward its proprietary apps, and could be a key step in converting its user base from the iTunes download model to a paid-streaming model."
Apple is positioning itself to extract more revenue from iTunes downloads and mobile ads carried by iTunes Radio, which are coming under increased pressure from the likes of Spotify, Pandora and YouTube.
Apple’s iAd revenues represented just 2.5 per cent of the US mobile advertising market in 2013, a figure projected to rise to 2.6 per cent this year.