Apple Music Signs New Multiyear Deals With World's Largest Record Labels

Apple Music has secured new deals for songs from major record labels that include Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music, reports Financial Times.

applemusic
The licensing deals, which have been signed "in recent months," will allow for music from popular artists like Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Adele, and others to continue to be streamed on the ‌Apple Music‌ service.

There are no terms in the deals for bundling ‌Apple Music‌ with Apple TV+, so despite rumors that Apple is working on bundling its subscription services, such a bundle does not appear to be in the works at this time.

Apple revisits deals with major record labels every few years to determine royalty rates and renew rights to songs. Apple has inked multiyear deals at this time, but ‌Apple Music‌ competitor Spotify is said to be having a harder time.

Spotify has been in licensing talks with Universal Music and Warner Music for approximately a year and the record labels have been extending existing agreements on a month by month basis as they work to agree on new terms.

As of last summer, ‌Apple Music‌ had 60 million paid subscribers. Apple hasn't released updated data since then, but Spotify in October said that it had 113 million paying subscribers.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...

Top Rated Comments

H3LL5P4WN Avatar
57 months ago
Any mention of Apple Music increasing payout to artists?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sos47 Avatar
57 months ago
When does Apple Music support ALAC (or ... FLAC)?
thank you for any hint
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
57 months ago

I would be interested to hear a response to this from someone who knows the answer. At least in the media, streaming companies are criticized for how much money is paid to artists, making it seem as if streaming companies like Spotify and Apple are at fault for the amounts artists receive.
All I know is this... the music industry has never been fair to the artist. There are too many fingers in the pie.

In the old days... artists would be lucky to make $1 for each $16 CD sold. The other $15 went to labels, producers, songwriters, distributors, manufacturing, retailers, etc.

The artists were getting screwed long before we had MP3s and streaming.

I'm assuming it's the same today... where the artist still only gets a tiny portion.

We know Apple and Spotify pay royalties for every song streamed. But I'm guessing it then gets split among of those entities listed above.

I, too, would love to know the intricacies of how this all works.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H3LL5P4WN Avatar
57 months ago

When does Apple Music support ALAC (or ... FLAC)?
thx
Dude.

(Probably when they release a 1tb iPhone.)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
57 months ago

Any mention of Apple Music increasing payout to artists?
Isn't that between the labels and the artists?

If artists aren't getting enough money... I'd think it would be the labels' fault (Universal, Sony, Warner)... not the distribution mechanism (streaming services, record stores, etc)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gsmornot Avatar
57 months ago
Streaming was the answer to theft. People are more likely to contribute revenue if it's affordable. Like it or not, the money streaming does pay is better than the alternative.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)