Apple Music reshapes music biz with streaming, 24/7 global radio, human curation and more

Apple Music

“The next chapter in music,” Apple’s rumored subscription streaming-music service, is now official and it’s more than the rumors would have you believe. Apple CEO Tim Cook brought Jimmy Iovine on stage today in San Francisco to talk what Apple’s been doing in the music space.

Here’s what Apple Music is all about.

Before we get to it, Apple Music will cost $9.99 per month and be available June 30.

Apple Music is all your playlists, recommendations, radio stations with celebrity DJs, streaming music, the Connect feature that’s basically artists pages with information about their songs, behind-the-scenes videos, demo songs, news updates and more, all available through one app.

Here’s what else Apple Music is all about.
Apple Music is “All the ways you love music, all in one place.”

Apple Music three pilars

It’s three things:

  • Revolutionary music service
  • 24/7 global radio
  • Connecting fans with artists

Revolutionary music service

Apple Music is curated by hand-picked experts to help create the magic of what app comes up next, depending on your activity, mood and a number of other criteria.

Apple Music revolutionary music service

All your purchased music and playlists created on Macs and iOS devices are included in the My Music section of Apple Music. Another new tab is For You, a personalized playlist of artists and songs that Apple’s team of experts thinks you’ll love, with a little help of the iTunes recommendation engine.

These recommendations can be explored by genre and activity.

“Algorithms alone can’t do that emotional task,” said Iovine.

24/7 global radio

They’re calling it Beats One.

Beats 1

It’s true 24/7 global radio broadcasting to more than a hundred countries around the world. Beats One uses actually celebrity DJs from three major cities: New York, Los Angeles and London.

Beats One provides great music “without any restriction.”

Apple Music Global Radio

Connecting fans with artists

Noting that the streaming music and video space is “a fragmented mess,“ Iovine said that Apple Music delivers the art of music, with the sense of respect and discovery, giving artists a place to engage with their audiences.

Apple Music Connect with fans

Artists can post, publish and update anything—be it news posts, photographs, videos, studio demo sessions and even upcoming songs—and fans can like and comment on those posts.

As mentioned before, Apple Music is launching beginning June 30 for a flat monthly fee of ten bucks per month, the cost of an album.

Apple Music will be available with iOS 8.4 on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, on Mac and Windows PCs with an updated desktop iTune software and on Android via a dedicated app.

A free three-month trial will be available, in addition to a $14.99 tier for a family up to six.

To learn more, visit apple.com/music and read Apple’s press release.

So, your verdict on Apple Music?

And will you be taking the plunge?