Apple (AAPL) has cut the price of its Apple Music service to $8.25 a month if you pay for it on annual basis, compared with $9.99 a month for the pay-as-you-go plan.
Apple quietly began offering existing subscribers the option to pay an annual fee of $99 rather than the usual $9.99 per month, TechCrunch reported Monday. The annual plan is a savings of $20.88 a year, or 17%, from the month-to-month plan.
Autoplay: On | OffApple's pricing move increases the pressure on rivals like Spotify, Pandora (P) and others to offer cheaper plans than the standard $9.99-a-month price.
Apple announced June 5 that it has 27 million paying subscribers for Apple Music. Spotify said last Thursday that it has 140 million users, including its advertiser-supported free tier and its premium subscription tier. Apple doesn't have a free tier, but offers three-month free trial subscriptions to new users. In March, Spotify said it had 50 million paying subscribers.
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Meanwhile, Apple is using original video programming to make its Apple Music service more enticing. It currently streams a "Shark Tank" copycat show called "Planet of the Apps" and also has music videos, concert films and music industry documentaries. Next up is "Carpool Karaoke: The Series," which will premiere on Apple Music on Aug. 8.
Streaming music services are trying to outdo each other with exclusives. On Monday, rapper Jay Z announced that his new album is coming June 30 exclusively to Tidal, a streaming service in which he holds an ownership stake.
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