Apple CEO Tim Cook explains why prices of Apple Music, Apple TV+ and others were raised – Times of India

Earlier this week, Apple raised the prices of a few of its subscription services. These included Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple One. The prices of these services were increased across regions, however the India prices remain unchanged. In the US, the price hike hasn’t been that substantial as it is somewhere around $1-3. For instance, Apple Music’s individual plan now costs $10.99 and family plan costs $16.99. Both plans now cost $1 and $2 more. Apple TV+, on the other hand, now costs $6.99 per month in the US.
During the company’s quarterly earning calls, CEO Tim Cook explained why the prices these services were raised. “With Music, the cost of licensing increased. And so we are paying more for music,” said Cook. He added that the good thing about this is that “the artist will also get more money for their songs that are enjoyed on streaming.”
On Apple TV Plus, Cook said that at the time of the launch, the platform had very few shows. “We were at the beginning. We are very focused on originals only, and so we had four or five shows or so in the beginning and priced it quite low.” Now that the platform has more content and shows, Apple “increased the price to represent the value of the service,” said Cook.
Apple One — bundle of subscription services — cost was increased, as per Cook, simply because of the “the consolidation of those two price changes.”
While the users in India won’t have to pay more for these services, Apple has hiked prices of few of its products recently in India. For instance, all the iPad models now cost more in India. The same goes for almost every Apple Watch band.