[bombcar]

I suspect Apple snapped up some very long rights early on which means they’re not going to bother trying to compete directly as they’d only have their own songs.

Same way that a bunch of studios waited for their Netflix/Prime contracts to wind down before opening their own streaming service.

[smugma]

In the US, the music subscription services get blanket licenses (from the MLC for mechanical rights and from the PRO’s for performing rights).

It’s different but similar around the world, but there is no long term rights securitization going on.