Ben Sisario, writing for the New York Times:

For each song that is streamed free, Apple will pay 0.2 cent for the use of recordings, a rate that music executives said was roughly comparable to the free tiers from services like Spotify. This rate does not include a smaller payment for songwriting rights that goes to music publishers; Apple is still negotiating with many publishers over those terms, several publishing companies confirmed on Wednesday.

First things first, the money Apple will pay out during each free trial period is still under negotiation. It will be more than .2 cents a song. How much more is not yet known.

But at .2 cents a song, if you listen to 5,000 songs, Apple will shell out $10 for usage rights. Spread over 30 days, that’s 167 songs a day.

At an average song length of 3.5 minutes (your mileage may vary, but here’s one take at that math), that’s almost 10 hours a day of wall-to-wall music.

Very few people will hit that threshold. According to a survey by Edison Research, Americans listen to an average of just over 4 hours of music a day. That’s about 70 songs a day.

At that rate, Apple will pay out about 70 x 30 x .2 cents = $4.20 per month for each trial period user. Add in publishing costs, as well as other costs associated with running a business, and there’s enough cash going out to make it clear why Apple hesitated before agreeing (rightly so) to pay artists for that free trial period.