Apple could be forcing Beats Music onto every iOS device next year

Apple, like every smartphone manufacturer, is rather fond of sticking its own apps onto its devices, even if nobody actually uses them (*cough*Stocks*cough*). It sounds as though iOS users might be getting another piece of bloatware in the future in the form of Beats Music.

A new report from the Financial Times claims that Apple will be pushing the app onto iOS devices as early as next March in order to encourage people to sign up for the service. The report also claims that the app will be installed on “hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads”, which implies that Apple is going to make the service available globally and expanding beyond the US.

Apple has admitted recently that iTunes sales have been declining, and it’s widely believed that the popularity of streaming services like Spotify is to blame. If Apple wants to stay as king of the world of digital music distribution it needs to adapt, and Beats Music is something that could give it the edge over its competition. Plus iff the rumours reported by Re/code last month are true then Beats Music could end up with a $5 (£3) monthly fee, which is considerably less than anything else available.

But will forcing everyone to have Beats Music help? People weren’t too impressed with Apple adding U2’s Songs of Innocence to their iTunes library without asking, and iOS takes up a lot of phone space as it is without throwing more mandatory apps into the mix. It could go very well for Apple, or it could spectacularly backfire.