The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is said to be looking into Apple, Inc. and its treatment of rival streaming music services.

A report over the weekend claims that although not yet a formal probe, the FTC is undertaking a preliminary investigation on a number of grounds, all based around the fair contention that Apple is using its own rules in its App Store to make its own music streaming service, Apple Music, more appealing than others.

The particular points being investigated include Apple’s insistence that it takes a 30 percent cut from every dollar an app earns, a prohibition on advertising in the app that the company is on other platforms, a ban on marketing in the app that consumers can also buy directly from the company’s website, and a ban on linking to a company’s website from within the app.

The 30 percent take seems to be the biggest gripe, with rival music services noting that margins are already thin in streaming music, and Apple taking the cut either forces them to make no money, or increase the price for users who subscribe through the App Store; as we covered recently, Spotify AG customers are charged $12.99 a month if they subscribe through the app store, but only $9.99 a month if they subscribe directly through Spotify.

“It will be an issue for the industry going forward” Chief Executive Officer for Deezer, Inc. Tyler Goldman told Reuters. “You can either raise your prices and not be competitive with Apple’s price, or you can have no margin.”

Idiocracy

While there are decent grounds for the investigation given that Apple is trying to crush rivals to its Apple Music service through unfair restrictions, one argument that may be true, but is LOL worthy none the less, is the concept that some people don’t know they can get services for cheaper outside the App Store.

From the Reuters report:

Streaming services’ chief grievances with Apple stem from the company’s 30 percent cut. To avoid it, customers can sign up for a streaming service through their Web browser, but the streaming industry sources argue that many consumers do not realize that is an option.

Are apps dumbing people (and by people, primarily millennials) down so much that they can’t use a web browser to find cheaper ways to obtain services?

Is this where the demise of humanity begins as predicted in the excellent foretelling of the future in Mike Judge’s Idiocracy?

You’d like to hope that people were smarter than this, but then again, nothing really is surprising in the second decade of the 21st century.

Image credit: 45909111@N00/Flickr/CC by 2.0