Apple Music reaches new deals with major labels sans “Apple Prime” bundle agreement

Jimmy Iovine announces Apple Music in 2015.

For months, we've seen reports and rumors that Apple is on the brink of introducing its own answer to Amazon Prime: a bundled subscription service that would offer users access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple News+ for one flat fee. But a new article providing details about Apple's newly signed deals with major record labels for Apple Music calls that prediction into question-at least for the near term.

According to a report in Financial Times, Apple Music has inked new deals with the record labels Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group to continue to offer those labels' artists' work on Apple's streaming service for years to come. That includes huge names like Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Blake Shelton, and Mariah Carey.

That said, the new deals do not "include an economic agreement to bundle Apple Music with the company's television service," according to Financial Times' sources. Late last year, Bloomberg reported that Apple was pursuing a plan to bundle Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple News+ in one service. (Apple Arcade and the company's other services were not mentioned.)

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