After months of rumours and speculation, Apple has finally thrown its hat into the online music streaming race. At the recently concluded Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California the tech giant announced their long awaited entry in the streaming market dubbed: 'Apple Music'. Apple hopes their new service can rival industry leader Spotify and Jay Z's much talked about but still unproven Tidal.
Apple's strategy for 'Apple Music' is built on three distinct pillars. The first is their roster of celebrity music expert 'curators' such as Pharell and Drake, the latter of whom presented onstage during the conference. The second is their 24/7 radio service backed by popular DJ's such as the BBC's Zane Lowe. The final piece is the social aspect named 'Connect' which will allow artists to reach out through fans via the service.
Rolling Stone Magazine published these excerpts from the conference: "History has had a very rich history of change, some of which we have a part in," Apple CEO Tim Cook said before introducing a video touching on the history of music distribution from 1888 to Apple Music, "the next chapter in music." Beats founder Jimmy Iovine then detailed the service and how "it's all the ways you love music, all in one place."
Iovine called the current state of music a multi-medium "fragmented mess." "For fans, we've tried to create a complete experience," Iovine said. In addition to boasting every track in the iTunes Music Store, Apple Music also allows users to watch "tens of thousands of music videos with no ads" and promised to deliver playlists tailored to fans' taste curated by humans and not algorithms. "There needs to be a place where music can be treated less like digital bits but more like the art it is, with a sense of respect and discovery," Beats' Chief Creative Officer Trent Reznor said in the Apple Music video.
Apple Music will launch on June 30, 2015. Similar to Tidal, there will be no 'freemium' tier. However the first 3 months of the subscription will be free. The service costs $9.99 a month for a single user or $14.99 for a family plan of six.
