Apple reportedly under investigation for trying to force music labels to abandon free Spotify

APPLE is getting serious about its music streaming service. The company is under fire for foul play after its believed they are trying to force Spotify to drop its free tier.

Apple's plans to kill Spotify and YouTube

THE US Department of Justice is reportedly looking into Apple’s business practices as it plans to launch a music streaming service in the near future.

The Verge is reporting that Apple has been trying to push major music labels into forcing Spotify and other similar streaming services to get rid of their free tier.

It is being said that Apple has been using its immense power in the music industry, thanks to owning the world’s largest music store, to help stop music labels from renewing Spotify’s license to stream their music through an ad-supported free tier. Apple isn’t planning to launch a free tier for its upcoming service and is hoping to snag some of the 45-million Spotify subscribers who don’t currently pay and would be forced to.

“All the way up to Tim Cook, these guys are cutthroat,” one music industry source told The Verge.

It’s not just Spotify that Apple is targeting either, with those same sources claiming that Apple offered to pay the equivalent of YouTube’s licensing fee to Universal Music Group in exchange for the label to stop offering its music to YouTube.

It’s not clear if Apple’s efforts will succeed though, with the European Union’s Competition Commission also hot on the company’s case to found out of the company is indeed working with the music industry to get rid of the freemium music services.

Apple bought the Beats brand for roughly $US3 billion ($A3.8 billion) last year. It was rumoured that the main reason for that was the Beats Music streaming service. Apple is planning to work its magic to the platform and re-release it under the iTunes banner around June this year.