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Apple subscriptions: one service for Music, TV, and News?

Apple Music is already a huge force in the streaming world, but that’s not the only media the company is interested in. It’s also working on $1bn worth of original TV content and is widely expected to release a paid News service for magazines.

According to a rumor picked up by The Information, we could soon see all three services bundled into one huge Apple-centric media subscription. Music, TV, and News – together at last!

Apple Music currently costs $10/£10 month for unlimited access to its library of around 40 million tracks – comparable to rival streaming services like Spotify.

But Apple is also making plans that could upset TV streaming services such as Netflix, as it recruits big names for original programming. The full list of the shows Apple has planned is already pretty big, and includes new content from a diverse cast of creators and stars including J.J. Abrams, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Dre, M. Night Shyamalan, Reese Witherspoon, and the Sesame Workshop.

However, these shows will be released slowly over the next couple of years, and without licensing a massive back catalog of shows and movies Apple might struggle to convince people to subscribe to a single TV subscription. Which is why it makes sense to bundle it with Apple Music, as least to begin with.

Finally, Apple’s recent acquisition of magazine subscription service Texture suggests it will be implementing something similar in the News app sometime soon. This would likely take the form of a paid section in the app that grants full access to hundreds of popular magazines, and we’d expect the pricing to be comparable to purchasing one or two physical mags each month.

What this latest report is suggesting makes sense; a combined, discounted subscription price incorporating premium content from Apple News, Apple TV, and Apple News. The exact pricing for such a subscription is still anyone’s guess.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple went a step further and offered additional benefits to those who take up an “Apple Premium” subscription: it could bundle extra iCloud storage, priority AppleCare support, or even exclusive App Store discounts.

Of course, other companies already offer similar bulk subscriptions. Amazon Prime gives access to a bunch of different media services with the added perk of free product deliveries, and Google has just this year rejigged some of its music and video offerings into YouTube Premium. It’s not so crazy to think Apple could join the fray once it enters these other markets.

If this rumor comes true, we’d expect the Apple services to come together for launch sometime in 2019. Would you be interested in such a subscription?