Fresh from reportedly overhauling Spotify for paid subscribers in the US, Apple Music is looking to capitalise on its advantage with a new telco deal. The telco in question is Verizon, which from 16 August will be offering six months of Apple Music for free to new and current subscribers to its Verizon Unlimited tariffs.
But Verizon says this is part of a much bigger, longer-term deal with Apple Music. “This first-of-its-kind offer is just the first step in an exclusive partnership with Apple,” said its VP of marketing Angie Klein in a statement.
The Unlimited plans start at $75 for a single customer, although the price per plan drops to $40 at its lowest tier if four lines are bought (i.e. a family plan). It’s just the latest such deal for Apple Music: in June it began a similar six-month bundle partnership with Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates, for example.
In a US context, the fact that Apple Music’s deal with Verizon is exclusive appears to tie up another telco for now, following Sprint’s relationship with Tidal. AT&T recently launched some new bundles that included options to include Pandora Premium or Amazon Music Unlimited, while T-Mobile has focused on a wide slate of music-streaming partners for its ‘Binge On’ no-data-charges initiative.
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