Apple is said to be plotting a single subscription package which would bundle up Apple Music, original TV shows and magazine articles for a single price.
The first step towards a combined offering will be the launch, next year, of an Apple digital news subscription service, according to this report from The Information.
This will incorporate Texture – an app which offers more than 200 publications including The New Yorker and Vanity Fair for $9.99 a month – which Apple acquired in March.
The next step will then see Apple bundle this digital news offering with subscription video content as well as a subscription to Apple Music, which now boasts over 40m subs worldwide.
The Information doesn’t speculate a price for Apple’s mooted multimedia bundle.
If such a bundle does arrive, it will rival Amazon Prime, where a ‘membership’ costs US consumers $119 per year, or $12.99 per month.
In addition to free purchase delivery and Amazon’s video services, Amazon Prime members get access to the limited-catalog music streaming service, Prime Music.
Another digital giant offering a multi-media subscription is YouTube.
Its recently-announced YouTube Premium package offers consumers a subscription to Spotify rival YouTube Music Premium, plus access to YouTube Originals shows and movies for $11.99 a month.
The Information report suggests that a combined subscription offering would boost Apple’s bottom line, reducing its reliance on iPhone and hardware sales. (Although it doesn’t need too much help—the company had generated nearly $150bn in revenue and $34bn in earnings at the halfway point of its current fiscal year).
Apple is expected to spend $1bn on creating original video content across 2018 and its current video series include Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps.
In the works are an upcoming program series created with Oprah Winfrey, an adaptation of hit novel Shantaram, comedy/drama series Little Voices and animated music comedy Central Park, amongst other projects.
What impact will multimedia subscriptions have on the growth of music streaming worldwide? Questions are currently being raised over whether the growth of pure music streaming subscribers, which hit 176m globally last year, can continue at the pace seen in recent years.
Where would a rise in multimedia subscription bundles leave the pureplay music service Spotify?
Perhaps the answer lies in its most recent hire. Earlier this week Dawn Ostroff was announced as Spotify’s new Chief Content Officer; she’s an expert in making movies and TV shows.Music Business Worldwide
