“Apple is in talks to sign a rumored $19 million deal to get ‘Started From the Bottom’ rapper Drake as a guest DJ for iTunes Radio, among other things,” Claire Atkinson reports for The New York Post. “Drake is just one of a host of artists Apple wants to snag for its huge all-encompassing assault on the music front.”
“Pharrell Williams, who touted the Apple Watch on ‘The Voice’ last month, and French DJ David Guetta are also in talks to get on board, several music industry sources say,” Atkinson reports. “Apple has been visiting record labels to make deals, ahead of its World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco next week, but those hard-nosed negotiators from Cupertino want the moon and the stars, sources say.”
“The tech giant wants to offer a three-month free trial period for its $10-a-month subscription service to get customers to sample its new offering. So far so good, but it also wants the labels to give it rights for free during that time,” Atkinson reports. “As for music publishers, we hear Apple wanted to offer lyrics as part of Apple Music, but didn’t want to pay extra — again, free is nice if you can get it.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iTunes Radio guest DJs? Meh. Apple Music exclusives? Bring ’em on!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]