Is the end of free music streaming in sight?

DAYS OF FREEBIES NUMBERED: Most of the existing free music streaming services allow users to create and share playlists from a mobile device.

If Apple is encouraging record labels to help put an end to cost-free music streaming services, as reported this week by The Verge, in order to crush the competition before launching its own platform developed with Beats Music, what's at stake for the major players? 

For months now, major record labels have been requesting increased restrictions on the free streaming services offered by Spotify and Deezer, in order to incentivize users to opt into paid subscriptions.