It seems that many high-profile artists wearing gold Apple Watches over the past several weeks may be doing more for Apple than just promoting their new watch. Apple is in talks with at least Drake, Pharrell Williams and DJ David Guetta to become guest DJs on the new iTunes Radio, according to a new report. The report says that Drake’s deal could be worth around $19 million, while these deals follow the hire of notable U.K DJ Zane Lowe…
Besides the news of the DJ talks, the report says that the free trial option we discussed for the upcoming Beats-based streaming service will be three months in length. Interestingly, during those three free months, Apple wants the record labels to give up the music to the company for free. It’s unclear if this request will actually work out in time for the June 8th debut, which we reported on in March, but it appears Apple will push for this until time runs out.
As we profiled earlier this year, Apple is working on both a new version of iTunes Radio and its “Apple Music” streaming service for Apple and Android devices. While Apple initially hoped it could sell its subcription service for $8 a month, push back from labels means that the cost will equal the current Beats Music price: $10/a month. Besides a new look based on the iOS 8.4 Music app, the new service will have deep, Ping-like social integration for artists and will launch in internationally.
