Apple relaxes rules for content

Apple dropped a bombshell on music subscription services in February that would have translated to higher prices for music fans who like the idea of paying a monthly fee to listen to millions of songs -- think MOG, Rhapsody, Spotify, and their ilk.

It's a slightly complicated situation, but boils down to this: If these services want to offer you a free app with the option to pay for a subscription from right within the app, Apple gets 30 percent of that subscription fee. That is still the case, but subscriptions can now charge whatever price they want outside of the app, as noted by eagle-eyed MacRumors, who spotted a change in the iTunes App Store Subscriptions policy for developers.

Ultimately, this could mean cheaper music for you, not to mention a chance at solvency for music subscriptions.

Subscription services (newspapers, music, video, etc.) can now sell subscriptions outside of iOS apps for whatever prices they want, rather than offering them for the same price or lower than within Apple's apps. This is a big deal, because many music subscription services struggle to stay in business as things stand. To give Apple 30 percent of those fees -- without the ability to inflate their price within iTunes by 30 percent relative to the normal price to make up for it -- would have made their businesses nearly impossible.

At that time, publishers were allowed to set the price and length of subscriptions. They could also offer subscriptions through their own websites, but had to offer those same terms to anyone signing up through Apple.

Apple keeps 30 percent of revenue of any subscription purchased directly through the App Store.

Many publishers complained that the fee was too onerous and that Apple kept much of the customer data when the subscription was purchased through the App Store.

The App Store is an online site where iPad and iPhone customers can download software, including newspaper applications and games.

In recent months, some publishers including Conde Nast, which owns titles such as the New Yorker and Vanity Fair, reached a deal with Apple to sell subscriptions in the App Store.

On Monday, the Financial Times put up a Web-based version of its mobile application for smartphones and tablet computers, essentially freeing itself from the confines of the App Store.