Apple® unveiled Apple Music™ yesterday at its annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference.
Apple finally announced its move into on-demand music streaming with the unveiling of “Apple Music” (which follow the company’s naming trend). Apple Music is a revolutionary streaming service and app that puts the entire Apple Music catalog at your fingertips across your favorite devices. Starting with the music you already know — whether from the iTunes Store® or ripped CDs — your music now lives in one place alongside the Apple Music catalog with over 30 million songs. You can stream any song, album or playlist you choose — or better yet, let Apple Music do the work for you.
Apple Music is coming June 30th, for $9.99 a month or $14.99 for a family plan of up to six individuals, with a three-month free trial. It’ll be available on Mac, iOS, Apple TV, and in another sign of how important this is to Apple, it’s coming to PC and Android too (later this year).
Curation is the soul of every playlist created on Apple Music. Apple has hired the most talented music experts from around the world, dedicated to creating the perfect playlists based on your preferences, and they become better curators the more you listen. The “For You” section of Apple Music provides a fresh mix of albums, new releases and playlists, which have been personalized just for you.
In addition to human curation, Siri® is also dedicated to helping you enjoy great music and have fun with Apple Music. Ask Siri to, “Play me the best songs from 1994,” “Play the best FKA twigs song,” or “What was the number one song in February 2011?”
Apple also showed off a feature called Connect that lets artists upload music, photos, and messages which are shared with their fans. It’s basically a blog fans can subscribe to, then comment and like individual posts. This is similar to the exclusive behind-the-scenes material that Tidal has been sharing from its cadre of artists.
“We’ve had a long relationship with music,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “And music has had a rich history of change, some of which we’ve played a part in.” The service will bring combine music downloads, streaming radio, and a streaming music service into a single app. Like most digital services, it promises to learn your tastes and recommend great new songs accordingly.
The pitch repeated during the event was about simplicity and unity. “Apple Music is really going to move the needle for fans and artists,” said Jimmy Iovine, the record executive and founder of Beats who is now helping to lead Apple’s charge into music. “Online music has become a complicated mess of apps, services, and websites. Apple Music brings the best features together for an experience every music lover will appreciate.”
So, this is the major musical overhaul that’s been rumored for so long. Will it end up being a serious player in the streaming industry? That won’t be clear for a while, at least until it launches at the end of the month.
