Apple's move to line up deals with record labels is under US anti-trust scrutiny as the iPhone maker prepares to debut a new version of the Beats Music streaming service, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is examining if Apple is using its position as the top seller of music downloads through its iTunes store to put rival music services like Spotify at a disadvantage, according to Bloomberg.
Apple bought Beats last year hoping to win points with the music industry and turn Beats Music into a strong competitor to Spotify and other streaming services.
Apple paid around $3 billion for Beats in a deal that saw it bring Jimmy Iovine and rapper Dr Dre into its ranks. The two were expected to be key in forging relationships with an industry that historically viewed Apple with suspicion but in recent years has pressed the iPhone maker to do more on subscription services, a market expected to eclipse song downloads in the long run.
The deal marked a significant departure for a company that for two decades has stuck mainly to acquisitions worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It was seen as Apple's effort to jump-start an uneven attempt to make headway in music streaming, the fastest-growing segment of the market, as iTunes sales were in decline.
Apple and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment outside regular business hours.
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