Apple to Pay Rightsholders for Apple Music Free Trials

Second, and this is a much bigger issue, it’s unclear if Apple can actually pay the rights during this trial period and not get targeted by competitors for predatory pricing or anti-competitive behavior. A company who has a big cash hoard can’t price something so low that others can’t match it, in order to unfairly compete with them. In some countries, it’s illegal to sell anything at a loss, and Apple will be clearly doing that during these free trials. Imagine a small streaming service, such as Tidal, which now has to compete with a free service for three months; they can claim that they’re losing money because of Apple’s cash hoard. (And they may be right.)

Good point. Nothing these days can ever be simple anymore, can it?