Apple Music reportedly renews deals with major record labels, but no bundle yet

By Aaron Mamiit Published April 25, 2023

Apple Music has reportedly secured new multi-year deals with major record labels, but it appears that a bundle combining the service with Apple TV+ and Apple News+ is still far off.

Recommended Videos

According to Financial Times’ sources, Apple Music has renewed licensing deals “in recent months” with several record labels, including Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music. This means that music from a wide range of popular artists, including Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Mariah Carey, and Blake Shelton will remain on the service.

Apple renegotiates its deals with record labels every few years to determine royalty rates and to renew rights to songs. In comparison, rival Spotify has struggled in licensing talks with Universal Music and Warner Music, with the agreements between the service and the labels being extended on a monthly basis instead of the multi-year deals that Apple Music obtained. Music labels have reportedly said that it is easier to work with Apple Music compared to Spotify.

While that may be the case, Apple Music’s new deals with record labels do not include any agreements for the Apple “super bundle” that is rumored to be in the works.

Apple “super bundle” not happening soon

Apple is said to be working on a media bundle that will combine Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple News+ in a single subscription, which was previously reported by Bloomberg to possibly arrive as early as 2020. The report pointed to a provision that Apple included with publishers for bundling Apple News+ subscriptions with other services.

The Financial Times’ sources, however, said that Apple Music’s new contracts with the record labels do not include an agreement that will enable the rumored bundle, which indicates that the subscription package “may be months away” from happening.

The lack of an agreement over the bundle in Apple Music’s new deals with record labels does not mean that Apple is not currently engaged in negotiations though. While music labels and news publishers have expressed concern that the discounts may hurt revenues, Apple may pursue the bundle as it will give the company a huge advantage over its competition.

Contributor

Aaron received an NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was four years old, and he has been fascinated…

Topics

Mobile

I tried Apple Fitness Plus as a beginner and loved what I found

Apple Fitness Plus on an Apple TV, with an iPhone 16 Pro Max.

When my Apple Watch Series 10 arrived, it came with a three-month trial for Apple Fitness Plus. It was just the right time, as I’d been out of the exercising loop for a few months and wanted to get back into it at my own pace.

But I was a bit worried about Apple Fitness Plus. Would it be suitable for me as a beginner? What I discovered was something way more motivational and fun than I expected.
Fear of the unknown

Audio / Video

Apple Music adds three new radio stations for Latin, club, and chill fans

An iPhone displaying the Radio tab in Apple Music.

Apple Music has just doubled the number of its live hosted radio stations from three to six, with the addition of Apple Música Uno, Apple Music Club, and Apple Music Chill. The new stations are available now, from anywhere in the world. They join the existing radio lineup that includes the flagship Apple Music 1, Apple Music Country, and Apple Music Hits. Despite that they live under the Apple Music brand, you don't need an Apple Music subscription to access these stations -- they're available for free in the Apple Music app on both mobile and desktop platforms or on the web.

Apple Música Uno, as the name suggests, is a dedicated station for global Latin music, hosted at launch by Becky G. She'll be joined by fellow Latin stars Rauw Alejandro and Grupo Frontera, who will each host their own shows.

Audio / Video

Apple Music Replay 2024: where to find it and how to see your listening stats

Apple Music Replay 2024

One of the earliest signifiers that the end is nigh (of the year, that is) is when the major music streaming services start releasing their fun and interactive lists of all your listening stats for the year. Spotify has its annual Wrapped (arguably the most popular), Amazon Music has its Delivered, and Apple Music has its Replay 2024, which was released to its subscribers today.

I'm not trying to be cheeky -- I actually love these year-end roundups that offer a personalized and detailed data-driven account of the artists, albums, songs, playlists, genres, and stations that each user has listened to over the course of the year. But it doesn't stop there, as the major streaming player also compiles a year-end list of top-ranked music globally that includes cool stats such as most-played songs, albums, and artists of the year, as well as some fun additions like most Shazam-ed songs (Apple owns the music identification service) and most-read lyrics.