European Commission looks at Apple's future streaming service

The height of the antitrust debate on Google’s activities has not yet ended, and the controlling organizations are already looking for the next candidate for the place of that “animal forgiveness”. In the run-up to the launch of Apple's own streaming music service, the European Commission (EC) will analyze the company's collaboration with music labels.

According to the Financial Times , on the sidelines of the European bureaucracy, the official complaint was taken seriously. In this connection, the EC turned to several music labels in order to obtain information about their agreements with Apple.

The article states that the commission is concerned about the existing abuse of Apple’s position. Capturing a market is too dainty a goal to ignore the possibilities of providing it. Officials fear that the company is using its influence to force music labels to give up licenses that allow competitors to stream music for free. Some services offer free use with advertising integration. It is under this scheme works, for example, Spotify. Label leaders, in this case, simply can not refuse.

If the EC finds a violation as a result of a formal investigation, the company may be asked to change its business methods or pay a fine.
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At the same time, unlike Spotify, Apple is unlikely to offer customers the opportunity to listen to music for free, most likely the company will go the usual way, providing an urgent subscription.

The streaming music service from Apple will be based on the acquisition of Beats Electronics last year for $ 3.2 billion. The main question is that Yablochniki can easily afford to squeeze almost anyone from the market. The annual free subscription in close relationship with iTunes can serve as a magnetron for streaming companies earning from showing advertisements.

Such requests from the European Commission are most often initiated as a result of a formal complaint and are the first step towards an investigation. Although the fact of such actions does not mean the beginning of an antitrust investigation. Nevertheless, the situation largely echoes the American antitrust scandal regarding the pricing of books by Apple. The result of which was an order to pay $ 450 million in damages.