Apple Music

Apple Music will not feature Taylor Swift’s hit album ‘1989’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple was unable to secure the streaming rights for Taylor Swift's '1989' album, BuzzFeed reports. The outlet says both Swift's label and Apple have confirmed the story, meaning the massively popular album won't be available on Apple Music at launch.

Apparently Apple Music will feature Swift's back catalogue, however, which includes 4 other highly sought-after records. But those can already be found on other subscription services such as Rdio and Tidal, so they won't serve as a differentiating feature.

Beats 1, Apple’s 24/7 Internet radio, makes an appearance in iOS betas ahead of June 30 rollout

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 18, 2015

Beats 1, Apple's non-stop Internet radio station hosted by celebrity DJs, has made its first appearance in latest betas of iOS 8.4 and iOS 9 which are available to developers.

The Beats 1 interface appears unfinished with many features not active yet or performing erratically. Still, I was able to use the Music app on my iPad running iOS 9 Developer Preview to access a new Radio tab and get to Beats 1. I also browsed a list of stations and even streamed select ones and heard the promotional Beats 1 broadcast.

Here are my screenshots.

Apple Music to cost €9.99 per month in Europe, but many indie acts could be absent from launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 17, 2015

Apple Music launches June 30 and while the company has said that unlimited streaming will set US-based music lovers back $9.99 per month, the iPhone maker has yet to reveal pricing for other markets in which the service will sell.

A recent sighting in the latest iOS 8.4 beta shared with iDownloadBlog indicates Apple Music will be priced the same dollar for dollar across Europe, with UK customers paying £9.99 per month and the rest of the continent €9.99 per month, or £14.99/€14.99 for family plans.

These prices have yet to be confirmed on Apple’s official website. It's important to note that UK prices include tax while US ones don't include sales tax, which varies by state. As a result, Brits will be paying a bit of a premium compared to US users.

Meanwhile, many independent labels in the UK may refuse to sign Apple Music contract, meaning the service could launch without such big-name artists as Adele and the Arctic Monkeys.

Apple Music and the S-word

Sébastien Page ∙ June 9, 2015

While following the keynote yesterday and trying to cover the event at the same time here on iDB with the rest of the team, there seemed to be one word I didn't hear Eddy Cue pronounce: streaming. I actually made a note of it in our Let's Talk iOS episode dedicated to WWDC 2015.

It seemed odd that the word wouldn't even get a mention. To confirm the omission was on purpose, I took a look at Apple's mini-site dedicated to Apple Music, and realized the word streaming is nowhere to found there either. It's like it's not even part of the offer. Is the S-word taboo?

Apple Music supports offline playback, paid-only Android support due in the fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 8, 2015

Reading through your comments about Apple Music, the iPhone maker's new $10 per month music-streaming service with 24/7 radio and other features, one crucial question seems to preoccupy the collective hearts and minds of those contemplating switching from Spotify: offline playback.

Thankfully, Apple's confirmed that its new streaming service will indeed permit music lovers to save their playlists and songs for offline playback, just like Spotify does.

Watch Apple Music promo footage and inspirational ‘App Effect’ video on YouTube

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 8, 2015

During its keynote talk, Apple played a bunch of videos to WWDC attendees to visualize some of the new products and features it announced this morning.

The company still hasn't uploaded the full keynote video to its official channel on YouTube—though you can stream it from the Apple.com homepage—but now promo footage highlighting the new $10 per month Apple Music service have popped up on YouTube, along with an inspirational video showcasing the App Store success story.

Apple Music available on June 30 for $9.99/month with 3-month free trial

Cody Lee ∙ June 8, 2015

Apple rounded up its WWDC 2015 keynote with a 'one more thing' announcement for Apple Music. The service will incorporate streaming music, 24/7 radio stations, and a new 'Connect' feature that will allow musicians to connect with their fans.

For those excited to try out the service, Apple says that it will be available on June 30th. As run-up reports predicted, it'll come with a 3-month free trial and cost $9.99 per month after that. There will also be a family plan for multiple users, for $14.99 per month.

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

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 8, 2015

“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.

Apple Music has an ambitious goal to sign up 100 million subscribers, Beats Music to close down

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2017

Apple is aiming for a cool hundred million subscribers for its forthcoming streaming-music service, as reported Monday by both The New York Times and The Associated Press, potentially giving Apple Music an annualized revenue in the ballpark of $12 billion.

How does this figure compare to Spotify, the world's top streaming-music service hailing from Sweden? Well, Spotify has sixty million active listeners but only fifteen million paid subscribers worldwide, 4.7 million of which were in the U.S. as of last December.

In fact, Apple Music looks to dwarf all streaming-music services combined.

New ‘Apple Music’ streaming service to feature three-month free trial

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple's upcoming streaming music service will offer a lengthy free trial period to new users, according to the Financial Times. Citing sources familiar with the company's plans, the outlet says that 'Apple Music' will be free for the first 3 months.

Apple hopes the extended trial period will give users plenty of time to immerse themselves in the service, making it harder to cancel. For comparison, Spotify currently offers a 30-day free trial, and Rdio's Unlimited trial period lasts just 2 days.

Apple still negotiating terms with record labels for music streaming service

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2015

Apple is reportedly still negotiating terms with record labels for its rumored music-streaming service, just days before its annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off with a keynote next Monday, Bloomberg said today.

People familiar with the negotiations told the news organization that the labels are pushing to get a larger chunk of revenue than they receive under their current deals with Spotify.

WSJ: Apple’s $10 per month on-demand music streaming service launching at WWDC next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Contradicting a February 2015 report which asserted that Beats Music would get folded into a new on-demand streaming music subscription service, The Wall Street Journal said Monday that Beats Music will be maintained as a standalone service once Apple launches its new music $10 per month offering at WWDC next week.

Apple, the world’s leading music retailer, is apparently “prepared to cannibalize its download business in favor of streaming.” As part of an all-in bet, Apple may prompt people “who download a $10 album to instead subscribe to the streaming service for $10 a month.”

The new “set of music services” will cost $10 per month, like Spotify, and is said to include “augmented Internet radio” with DJs.