Telcos bundling streaming music with smartphone contracts is a familiar distribution strategy, but one that’s being talked about a lot in 2015.
Why? Partly because companies like Spotify, Deezer and Rhapsody/Napster continue to see it as a key route to the mainstream music fans that they need to fuel their future growth, but also for another reason: a potential competitive advantage over Apple Music. The theory? Apple being Apple, it’s less likely to have the flexibility required to strike some of these telco deals.
Which is why yesterday’s news that Australian telco Telstra is bundling a 12-month subscription to Apple Music with its Go Mobile Plan contract for iPhones is so interesting. Customers adding the bundle to their account will be texted three days before the year is up notifying them that they’ll be about to “roll on to a paying subscription”.
