The streaming wars rage on, as artists’ music continues to be jerked around from service to service; Madeon has had his fair share of trouble with Sony and Soundcloud, while Beyoncé and Rihanna face music being taken down from Tidal, and Universal took down it’s own video on copyright grounds. For a while, Spotify has been the big fish a relatively small pond, with a net worth of over $8 billion (to the US Recording Industry’s $6 billion). Aside from a contract leak with Sony, Spotify has soared to success without much of a challenge. That’s about to change, because Apple just announced it’s streaming service: Apple Music.
The firm that’s been valued from $700 billion to an eye boggling $1 trillion, has bee scheming this for some time, as they’ve absorbed Beats By Dre, recruited top industry talent like Zane Lowe, and reportedly recruited David Guetta, Pharell and Drake. All of which was confirmed today at WWDC15. Apple Music will be an all inclusive service, providing: music downloads, On-Demand iTunes streaming, 24/7 radio, and social media aggregation. The service will cost $9.9 a month for individuals, or a $14.99 family plan for up to 6 people (as opposed to Spotify’s 2 people plan). Apple has announced the service will be available to iOS on June 30, with the first 3 months free, while Android users will have to wait until the Fall.
Here’s Apple Music. #WWDC15http://www.buzzfeed.com/brendanklinkenberg/meet-apples-new-streaming-muisc-and-radio-service-apple-musi#.ptpoDRKy1
Posted by BuzzFeed Tech on Monday, June 8, 2015
iTunes Radio has been revamped and curated by Zane Lowe, Drake, and Pharell. “Beats One” will be the first station to ever run non-stop 24/7, and will go live in 100 countries. The anchors include Zane, Ebro Darden, and Julie Adenuga. A fun tidbit to add to this radio service, you can skip as many songs as you like.
Drake was brought out to share his story, and announce his next album will debut with Apple Music via the “Connect” feature, a service that allows artists to share a variety of media however they’d like, in an effort to connect with the fans. This very much like the exclusive content users could access on Tidal. Other new features include a more intelligent Siri, and improved UI.
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It’ll be interesting to see what portions of Apple Music succeed, and which flop. Spotify currently has 60 million users and 15 million paid subscribers, though Apple has reportedly boasted it’s goals to clear the 100 million mark; give their 800 million credit cards on file, this is entirely possible. Only time will tell.
“While Apple wouldn’t comment last week, a person familiar with its plans said Apple has an ambitious goal to sign up 100 million subscribers…” – New York Times
In more entertaining news, WWDC15 capped this massive music announcement with a fittingly surprising premiere with a live performance from The Weeknd. You can check out the full list of highlights at Apple.com, as well as check out clips from the keynote in the playlist below.
