According to reports Apple is already being targeted by the European Commission regulators for its music streaming services.
Though a rebranded Beats Music hasn’t even been announced yet (though is expected soon enough) various record labels and digital music businesses have been contacted by the Commission about Apple’s streaming ambition.
Read more: Music streaming on the rise as Apple prepares to re-launch Beats Music
As this story on CultofMac notes, these kinds of investigations generally arise after formal complaints – though who made these has yet to be revealed.
The move harks back to another recent anti-trust lawsuit that came Apple’s way over its ebook controversy in which it was forced to pay over $400 million due to a price-raising scandal.
Though Apple is far from the only company in the streaming game (see Spotify, Deezer, Rdio, Jay-Z’s Tidal and others), it’s likely the EC is concerned over Apple’s intentions, specifically, how it may leverage its size to influence the market.
However, Apple is not currently under a formal investigation and the EC’s activities are simply in the information-gathering phase, though a more formal probing could take place.