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Apple Music wins indie label love and its first exclusive song
Pharrell Williams has announced that his upcoming song Freedom will be exclusive to Apple Music, the first of no doubt many such announcements to come. The news isn't a huge surprise, considering that the track was featured at Apple's WWDC 2015 developers conference during the Apple Music launch. It's still a coup for Cupertino, however, considering Pharrell's "Happy" was the number one US single last year. Williams made the reveal via a short video teaser on his Facebook page, which noted that the song would arrive "only on Apple Music" on the service's June 30th launch date.
Major indie labels are not happy with Apple Music
Smaller record labels are unhappy with Apple Music, so much so that some big-name artists may be unavailable when the company's new subscription music service launches on June 30th. Beggars Group says it's "very concerned, especially for artists releasing new albums in the next three months," about Apple's proposal to pay zero royalties out during the three-month free trial it's offering users. In a letter to its artists and managers, it explains that it struggles to see "why rights owners and artists should bear this aspect of Apple's customer acquisition costs."
Apple reportedly scrapped a Sonos-like Beats speaker
Shortly after it acquired Beats, Apple spiked one of Dre and Co.'s pet projects, according to a report from Variety. The product was supposedly a WiFi-connected speaker that could directly play internet subscription music, similar to offerings from Sonos or Google's Cast. Beats wanted to make a large speaker supporting WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC, that would play as soon as you walked into the room or paired it with your phone. The plan was to later introduce smaller satellite speakers for other rooms, exactly like Sonos. The price was reportedly as high as $750.
Apple Music still needs tuning
Apple Music: As simple as the name is, what it offers is surprisingly complex. It bundles in a streaming service, a 24/7 radio network and a whole new social outreach tool for artists. Oh, and you'll use the same Apple Music app to access all your regular iTunes purchased music too. As soon as June 30th rolls around, the new Apple Music app will be the default one-stop shop for music on devices with iOS 8.4 and up (assuming you'll cough up $9.99 a month for an individual subscription or $14.99 for a family sub for up to six people). Senior Editor Chris Velazco and I had some quality time with the app post-keynote, and while we appreciate what Apple is trying to do to win the hearts and minds of music fans, it's still very much a work in progress.
Zane Lowe traded Radio 1 for Apple's Beats 1
When Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe announced he was leaving the BBC to join Apple, it was clear that he'd been lured away from the bright lights of London to help launch a new music platform. The logical assumption was that he'd help create curated playlists for a service formed from the acquisition of Beats Music, but as it turns out, he's sticking with what he knows: radio. At its annual developer conference, Apple unveiled a new service called Beats 1, its first ever-live radio station. It'll broadcast music 24/7 to over 100 countries from June 30th, with Zane Lowe fronting the show in Los Angeles, Ebro Darden in New York and Julie Adenuga in London. All for free.
Apple Music vs. the competition: A streaming music cheat sheet
The past few years have seen a shift from owning music to accessing as much as you want on various streaming services. Why pay $9.99 for a new album each month when you can get a firehose of content for the same price? Now Apple looks to get in on the action with its newest offering, Apple Music. They made a big splash with the introduction of the iTunes store in 2003 but here in 2015 there's a lot more competition for your listening attention. Does Apple Music have what it takes to stand out from its more established rivals? We've stacked up some of the bigger names to see which one can give you the most for your money.
