Roundup Of The Latest Apple Music Leaks And Rumors

Apple seems certain to announce its revamped music service next Tuesday, and ahead of the launch it seems as if there is a new leak or "verified" rumor every few minutes. Here's our vetted roundup of the latest leaks and substantiated rumors:

Rumors Worth Betting On

Name – Apple Music. The Beats Music brand seems likely to live on only temporarily as a parallel service
Price - $9.99 per month for on demand streaming, The labels rejected lower pricing and regulators, who are already sniffing around, could have seen it as a red flag.
No Free Tier - This will make the labels – who rejected even a 90 day free trial for on demand streaming – happy.
Expanded iTunes Radio – iTunes Radio will remain free and ad supported, but add a paid 'drop the commercials' tier. Expect a lot more curation and DJ driven stations and playlists, including offerings from Pharrell, Drake and others.

Less Certain, But We're Hopeful

Artist Friendly Features – Beats and then Apple promised to be more artist friendly than Spotify and other competitors. Some kind of artist to fan social platform has been rumored. But will it launch next week for every artist – or just a select few. And what about analytics? Apple has never been very good at sharing…
Will it all launch next week? The Wall Street Journal says that all of the label deals are not in place. That could mean announcement now with on demand streaming launching later.
Lyrics – Apple wants to add them, but the deals are not done. Sticking point? Money, of course.