Apple Music wants to pay labels less

In the two years since its release, Apple Music has been gunning for Spotify's top spot atop the music streaming world, playing the upstart as it rushes to occupy territory as an ambitious, new competitor.

It's made some important strides. Apple has aggressively converted 27 million subscribers and has bolstered its catalog with exclusive online television.

And in yet another sign of Apple's momentum, the company is said to be renegotiating its deals with record labels, offering a smaller cut on the promise it will continue to deliver ever more eager listeners.

Given that progress, what is the No. 2 streaming player doing hawking its service on daily-deals site Groupon alongside coupons for cargo shorts and couples's massages? It's part of the land grab, analysts said.

'A lot of the deals on Groupon are from companies that perhaps have seen better days,” said Rafi Mohammed, a pricing consultant. 'But on occasion, Groupon does do a high-profile deal with a major company.”

First-time customers can sign up for Apple Music and get three months free, if they grab the Groupon deal. Afterward, subscribers automatically are renewed for a regular membership, at $9.99. The free trial is the same as the one Apple offers on its own site. Experts said that rather than giving off a whiff of sales-desperation, Apple's Groupon move is the latest sign of the company's aggressive play to reach new streaming customers.

'Apple Music is growing fast but not as fast as Spotify,” said Mark Mulligan, a digital music market analyst. 'It needs to widen its acquisition funnel to attract more users. Groupon is just one example of this strategy.”

Apple's consumer base is limited to people who already own Apple devices, whereas Spotify's potential audience is anyone with a smartphone. But within the ecosystem of Apple products, this can work to Apple's advantage, Mulligan said.

'Over the next couple of years, Apple is likely to strengthen its position due to its ability to market directly to iOS device owners and to give increased priority to Apple Music within its devices,” Mulligan said. 'In effect Apple has an inbuilt advantage within the iOS ecosystem and by the same token, the ability to limit the reach of Spotify.”