Apple Reportedly Planning to Launch All-in-One Subscription for Music, Magazines, and TV

Apple is reportedly planning to take on Amazon Prime with a one-stop-shop subscription service for music, magazines, and TV shows.

According to a new report from The Information, the Cupertino company s currently considering whether to create a single subscription service that would allow you to access its original TV shows, Apple Music, and a variety of magazine articles in one place.

The idea bears a striking resemblance to Amazon’s Prime service, which offers subscribers access to music, movies, and TV shows, as well as free two-day shipping on merchandise purchased from the retailer.

According to the report, Apple wants to start by launching a new digital news subscription service in 2019. The service, which will be known as Texture, the same name of the company it acquired earlier this year, would offer access to more than 200 publications. It will reportedly cost just $9.99 USD per month.

Only after Texture launches would Apple start selling a bundle with video and music, the report says. The move would allow you to access Apple Music, Texture, and the company’s slate of original video content, in one package.

An Apple bundle would leverage the company’s widening selection of streaming content and its budding original video content business. On June 15, for instance, Apple’s content team — led by two former Sony executives — inked a multiyear content partnership with Oprah Winfrey, in addition to an existing deal with Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston. Apple plans to spend $1 billion USD to produce original content in 2018.

“While well below the $5bn Amazon is spending and Netflix’s $8bn-plus budget, the sum is a big new bet for a company that has always shied away from buying content, relying on extensive partnerships with television and movie studios with iTunes,” The Information writes.

The bundle could be competitive against Amazon and Netflix given its variety of media: Netflix doesn’t offer music, for instance, and Apple may be better than Amazon at targeting content to users’ tastes. But the video part of the Apple bundle won’t be as large and diverse as Netflix’s or Amazon’s catalog for quite some time.

Apple is likely still in the process of deciding the details of how to package, price, and sell all these services, whether together or separately, and there’s no word as to when such a service might be available to the public.

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