Apple allegedly relaunching Beats Music in March

Apple reportedly has plans to rebrand its acquired Beats Music streaming service and bundle it with the release of the next iPhone and iPad.

First reported by theFinancial Times, a version of the service is expected in Marchaccording to sources familiar with the situation, 11 months after Apple finalised its acquisition of Beats Electronics.

The move is Apple’s biggest step into streaming since its iTunes Radio service, which was bundled into the iTunes app; but its growth was stunted by internet radio giant Pandora. If Apple does preload Beats into the iOS operating system which powers iPhones and iPads, it will give Beats an unprecedented edge over popular services like Spotify and Rdio.

Beats Music is one of the few entirely paid-for audio streaming services on the market. According to figures released by BGR in March, Beats Music had only 111,000 paying subscribers then, however that was expected to change drastically following the A$3.2 billion acquisition. The Beats Music app even featured in the “Apple Apps” popup window for new users.

It’s unclear whether Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers and Apple will follow market commander Spotify’s lead and engage a freemium model.

Beats Music's Australian publicity agency declined comment.