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Headline is false. Apple will remove bands from iTunes if they don't offer a free trial.

As for this being a 'threat'. It's clearly not - it's a mutual disagreement. The statement could just as easily be 'some bands abandon iTunes because they don't want to give free trials'

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So, Apple wants to promote its new streaming service using musicians' music for free, and threatens to to remove them from a different platform, iTunes, if they don't comply. Still pretty bullshit.

Yeah, seems like pretty basic blackmail to me.

False. iTunes is not a different platform. Companies are not forced to keep their services the same forever.

The story is that they are leveraging their position as a platform to enforce new terms. This is the kind of sharp practise people complained about with 'the big 5' record labels using their collective monopoly over distribution and can be seen as a form of bait and switch.

Except that there is vigorous competition in this market. Amazon and Google, Spotify, RDIO are all hailed as innovating on how we buy music. Apple is simply updating its service to respond to consumer demand.

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