Everything to know about the FTC’s antitrust review of Apple’s music business

Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission has launched an antitrust review into Apple's treatment of competing music streaming apps that are sold through its iTunes apps store. And while this investigation specifically relates to the market for music streaming, the implications may be so much greater.

At the heart of the probe is this: Streaming music companies, such as Rdio, Spotify and Rhapsody, rely on Apple to sell their products to consumers. And Apple takes a cut of that money, even while it is installing its own rival service on every iPhone and iPad. This is what has drawn the FTC's attention. And it has much broader implications for the tech industry.

Apple, along with Google and Facebook, are so big and powerful that they have become much more than neutral platforms. They are both distributing products for other companies and offering direct competition to that content. What's so tough for regulators here -- other than they are using relatively arcane laws that probably never anticipated the innovation that's now going on in the tech sector -- is that the streaming companies really do have a lot of ways to reach consumers. They can sell it over the Internet. And they all offer apps on Google's store, which actually serves more customers around the world than Apple does. "The fundamental question is if it is big enough to wield enough market power that can harm the competitive process," said Gene Kimmelman, president of media public interest group Public Knowledge. "Music distributors would need to show that they truly need to be in the iTunes ecosystem to demonstrate a legitimate competitive concern."