Fire away but....Spotify allows free listens even if you don't pay for an add free option. After the three month introduction Apple will play slightly over the standard on ALL plays with no option for listeners to play for free. I'm not carrying their water but Apple has been more of a friend to the music industry for years than ANY of the other players (OK on a relative basis). Apparently her beef is only with the introductory three month period that is free. Given the amount of credit card info that Apple already holds and the ease with which anybody who is an iTunes customer can sign up and begin streaming, IMHO it would seem that the numbers brought in during this 90 day period will ultimately be to the advantage of the artists. No, I don't have the data but given the higher fees than Spotify (and other streamers) that Apple will pay after the trial period and the numbers of customers added it could be a wash.

And there is an ironical undercurrent to all of this and that is if you are unscrupulous and don't care about intellectual property rights you have been able to steal about any digital content you want for years. Me? I will not burn copies of CD's for folks or pass on digital content that I purchase. Period. Never have and never will but it's a new world and this may be a bit of a tempest in a teapot...or Apple may fold like a cheap suitcase. What the hell do I know?

06//22/2015 Edit: Obviously not much! smile

Bud

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