Apple Music has only one main competitor at the moment and it is called Spotify, the audio streaming service from Sweden with 2 times more subscribers than Apple's platform, but probably more monthly users, thanks to the fact that it also offers a free version of its service.
Apple knows that this free version, but with ads, of Spotify hinders the growth of Apple Music to a good extent, so it decided to eliminate it, those from Cupertino proposing to the US Copyright Office a new method of payment artists who offer their music through streaming services.
The method proposed by the Apple company offers more transparency and simplicity in the payment of money to artists, but it would lead to the disappearance of services that offer the opportunity to listen to music online for free, Spotify or even YouTube, and will have big problems in supporting systems of this kind .
According to those from Apple, artists should be paid a fixed amount of 9.1 cents for every 100 listens made for songs, the current method involves paying 10-12% of the receipts of the companies that own these streaming services, but the amount is calculated using a complex, non-transparent algorithm contested by many.
Apple, which has always had a gift for creative simplicity, wants to make this process easier and more transparent, according to a copy of the filing obtained by Billboard. The company's proposal to the Copyright Royalty Board suggests a simple, "all-in" statutory rate that would be "fair, simple and transparent, unlike the incredibly complicated structure that currently exists."
The method proposed by the Apple company would be analyzed by a panel made up of 3 judges of the Copyright Office, but for now they are analyzing measures that would come into force between 2018 and 2022, so Apple still has a long way to go until potential changes may apply.
Basically, under the umbrella of a change that is profitable for content creators, the Apple company is trying to seriously affect the ability of a competitor to sustain its activity, and Spotify will have big problems if it does not manage to change its operating method until these changes enter into force, if they will enter into force.
