Apple and the NBA team up for a new ‘Base:Line’ Apple Music playlist

While Spotify is over there launching playlists for pets, Apple is teaming up with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to launch a new playlist in Apple Music.

Bloomberg was the first to report the news on Thursday. The NBA and Apple will be focusing on up-and-coming artists with the new playlist, which will be called “Base:Line”. It will be updated on a weekly basis, and each refresh will see a total of 40 songs available in the playlist at a time. The playlist will have a distinct “hip-hop vibe”, according to the report.

The playlist will be accessible in Apple Music, of course, but also in the official NBA app, too. The playlist will be used for in-game highlights, and the songs presented in the playlist will be distributed across social media as well. Apple’s Eddy Cue, who has an obvious love for the game of basketball, is said to have played a role in developing the partnership.

Cue told Bloomberg:

Apple is excited about the partnership and that the playlist is designed to support emerging and established independent urban artists.

A relatively new music label will be releasing most of the songs in the playlist, according to the report. It’s called UnitedMasters, which connects about 190,000 independent artists to a wide audience thanks to direct partnerships with major brands.

Apple Music is a powerful tool when it comes to promoting music, so it’s hopefully good news for these independent artists that they’ll be getting plenty of the limelight via the new, dedicated playlist. With a weekly refresh there should be plenty to listen to on a regular basis.

The first edition of the “Base:Line” playlist is not available at the time of publication, but it should launch soon.