High-tech giant Apple recently announced plans to enter the music streaming market. Competitors such as Spotify and Deezer will struggle to compete with Apple’s new business model – already the current market leaders are making losses. Clemens Schwaiger, digital media expert of Arthur D. Little, confirms that the decisive battle for music streaming is just ahead. Apple has not yet published concrete plans concerning the new streaming application. Nevertheless, experts believe streaming may be the perfect add-on to Apple’s iTunes. The company will offer a service that is slightly cheaper than competitors’ services. Schwaiger believes that Apple will soon become one of the big players in the music business – for the simple fact that the Californians have a bigger budget than any other company around the world.

With 800 million users worldwide, iTunes has massive potential. If only 10 percent of iTunes users complete subscriptions for the new streaming service, it will easily overtake Spotify with its 60 million users. For record companies, Apple’s entry may lead to bigger earning in the beginning. Some experts believe Apple may also be interested in the music marketing sector at some point. In that case, it will soon become a powerful competitor to record companies as well.