HOW DOES I.B. KNOW THIS STUFF SO EARLY?

In a column published last Wednesday and posted on Thursday, our man behind the scenes I.B. Bad wrote, “Rumor has it that Apple plans to offer a 90-day free introductory promo for its streaming service when it launches next month—assuming the deals are far enough along for the rollout to proceed.”

Friday on re/code, Dawn Chmielewski and Peter Kafka wrote, “Apple wants people to pay for its streaming music service. But that doesn’t mean it won’t let people listen for free, too. Apple is still negotiating deals for the streaming service, which it would like to announce soon. But it would like to offer several ways to let people listen to some music without paying, according to industry sources. Those include: A free trial period, which may range from one to three months, depending on the outcome of Apple’s negotiations with music labels.” This revelation was picked up ad infinitum.

Watch this space if you want to be ahead of the rest of the crowd.