Apple’s Streaming Music Service Will Debut In June

Apple’s Streaming Music Service Will Debut In June

Apple’s streaming music service, which will be a totally overhauled version of Beats but with iTunes branding and tighter integration with Apple’s own devices and software, will make its official debut in June, likely at WWDC. A source with knowledge of the company’s current plans tells Techno Freaks June 8 is the target launch date, at least for an official unveiling. 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman has reported that it will premiere at Apple’s annual developer conference event, which many suspect will fall between June 8 and June 12 this year, though no official dates have yet been set.
Apple’s streaming music offering aims to bring in some of the Beats-style personalization and recommendation features of that current streaming service but will likely be mostly new on the software side, and without Beats branding, as we first reported back in September. Apple still apparently plans to offer the service across platforms, however, including on the web and on Android, 9to5Mac reports, and development on the Android side of things is one of the reasons it’s launching in June and not this March as earlier reports maintained.
A cross-platform offering makes a lot of sense for Apple for a few reasons: First, with music it has a long history of reaching out to competing platforms, starting with iTunes for Windows. Also, it recently made iWork available to all users regardless of hardware preference via iCloud on the web. Services are still essentially a part of Apple’s business that it uses to generate more hardware sales, and things like a streaming music offering or cloud-based productivity software are services it can use to reach out to customers beyond its ecosystem, especially if there are additional benefits to be gained in the form of exclusive add-on functionality when those services are used with Apple devices.
iTunes Match is the closest Apple currently comes to offering a streaming music service.
iTunes Match is the closest Apple currently comes to offering a streaming music service.
Apple will also seek to make its offering more attractive to potential users with more attractive pricing: The company is said to be planning to offer service at a rate of $7.99 per month, which is $2 less than the going rate for paid subscriptions to Spotify and Rdio.
Along with potentially cheaper pricing, another advantage for Apple in the streaming music wars is its massive install base. While Spotify recently hit 60 million users and 15 million paying customers, Apple could push its music service to hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad and Mac users. Plus, with somewhere around 800 million credit cards on file thanks to iTunes and the App Store, it’s just a few clicks way from turning curious listeners into paid subscribers.
Apple has plenty of cash to throw around to make sure its service has plenty of fan-favorite artists. Sources say Apple has been snapping up record label talent, and already has industry super-connector Jimmy Iovine at the helm. By signing exclusive deals or getting stubborn artists like The Beatles on streaming for the first time, Apple could seduce a wide range of customers, not just streaming early adopters. After Taylor Swift’s clash with Spotify, she buddied up with iTunes and got her album featured there, and there have been whispers about Apple’s interest in her record label Big Machine.
With money so hard to come by in the ailing music business, Apple’s buying power goes a lot farther than in technology. Just a tiny fraction of its stored profits could win it the best catalogue in streaming.
To compete with Apple, services like Spotify will have to rely on platform lock-in through personalization and playlists, early network effect, and ecosystems of API-connected, third-party apps.
But most people around the world have yet to experience unlimited streaming of the history of recorded music. And as Apple as have proven over and over, it can steamroll companies that are doing something early by doing it right.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I Wake Up Early (And 9 Reasons You Should Do So Too)

Here are 9 reasons why I say this: 1. Get a head start When you wake up at 5am, you start your day earlier than 99.9% of the world — hence giving you a head start in your day. This creates a feel-good factor, which, while psychological, creates a host of positive effects (especially for reasons #2 and #3 in the list). After all, a good start is half the battle won. It will motivate you to stay ahead so you can maintain or even widen the lead. For example, my modus operandi when I wake up early is to work on the high-impact tasks right away, as opposed to the small, easy but unimportant tasks. I will also think and work effectively, and strive to end my day earlier so that I can have an early sleep, wake up early the next day, and continue my “head start.” On the whole, I’d say that I’m more forward thinking and proactive in managing my tasks — since I have a head start in my day, I naturally think about how I can be ahead in my work too. On the other hand, when I wake up ...
Read more
Image
How to Get Chromecast Wallpapers on PC and Android Ads by Google Chromecast is great for streaming all kinds of online and local media . Even when you’re not using it, Chromecast can serve as a digital frame of sorts, with awesome photographs, images from satellites, and even your personal photos. Without any setup, Chromecast will cycle through its curated collection of wallpapers . There aren’t many (less than 1000), but each one of them is awesome. I love this about Chromecast and I’m not alone. If you’ve ever thought to have those wallpapers on your desktop, Android or any device really, today is your lucky day. For I’m going to tell you how to spread the Chromecast wallpaper love across all the screens you own. 1. Download Chromecast Wallpapers for Desktop Alex Meub has created a website that curates the Chromecast wallpapers in question. You can browse through all of them and download the ones that particularly strike your fancy. There’s also ...
Read more

NASA unveils seasonal dust storm pattern on Mars

Image
NASA unveils seasonal dust storm pattern on Mars Improving the ability to predict large-scale, potentially hazardous dust storms on Mars would have safety benefits for planning robotic and human missions to the planet's surface. NASA's Mars orbiters have unveiled a pattern of large regional dust storms occurring at about the same times each year, an advance that may help predict these hazardous events during future robotic and human missions to the red planet. After decades of research to discern seasonal patterns in Martian dust storms from images showing the dust, but the clearest pattern appears to be captured by measuring the temperature of the red planet's atmosphere. For six recent Martian years, temperature records from NASA Mars orbiters reveal a pattern of three types of large regional dust storms occurring in sequence at about the same times each year during the southern hemisphere spring and summer. Each Martian year lasts about two Ea...
Read more