FTC Is The Third Government Body To Scrutinize Apple's Upcoming Music Streaming Service
After the U.S. Department of Justice and European Commission, the Federal Trade Commission will also investigate Apple's effort to set up deals with record labels as it prepares to launch its own music streaming service this summer.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the Federal Trade Commission is looking at whether Apple is using its position as the largest seller of music downloads through its iTunes store to put rival music services like Spotify Ltd. at a disadvantage.
Recently a report emerged that Apple was utilizing its power within the music industry to push record labels to stop licensing freemium tiers offered by Spotify and other music services. Reportedly, the company also offered to pay YouTube's licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its music on the website, which is a popular destination for music videos.
Bloomberg further noted in the report that the inquiry could complicate Apple's planned revamp of Beats Music.
Apple plans to unveil the new app/service in June at WWDC, however the company is still finalizing streaming deals.
Last month, the company seeded iOS 8.4 beta to developers with a redesigned Music app featuring a new MiniPlayer, a redesigned look for "Now Playing", and more.
