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Tim Cook says Apple could have built a subscription music service, but didn't need to
"Could Eddy's [Cue] team have built a subscription service? Of course." That's what Apple CEO Tim Cook told the New York Times today following the announcement that it had acquired Beats Electronics. But the fact of the matter remains, the company didn't. Instead it went out and purchased a pre-existing service. As the digital music industry shifted away from paying for individual tracks and albums towards an all-you-can-eat model, iTunes stuck to its guns. That's left Cupertino in the slightly odd position of not being at the forefront of innovation in the industry. Observers have been suggesting that Apple would launch it's own Spotify killer any day now, but Tim Cook seems to believe the company's resources would be better used else where. "We could've built those 27 other things ourselves, too," referencing the 27 other companies acquired over the last year, "you don't build everything yourself." That's especially true if you think that you're buying the "first subscription service that really got it right," as he told Re/code.
Apple acquires Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion
Apple today announced it is acquiring Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion, with $2.6 billion of that amount in cash and $400 million in stock that will vest over time. As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple. Apple is buying Beats for the music-oriented business it has already built, says CEO Tim Cook. "Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world." Apple will preserve the Beats brand, continuing to operate the Beats Music streaming service as well as selling Beats-branded hardware in Apple and other retail channels. The Cupertino company expects to finalize the deal by the end of its fiscal year, which closes on September 28, 2014. Show full PR text Apple to Acquire Beats Music & Beats Electronics CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) Apple® today announced it has agreed to acquire the critically acclaimed subscription streaming music service Beats Music, and Beats Electronics, which makes the popular Beats headphones, speakers and audio software. As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple. Apple is acquiring the two companies for a total of $3 billion, consisting of a purchase price of approximately $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time. "Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world." "I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple," said Jimmy Iovine. "The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple's unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple's deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special." Iovine has been at the forefront of innovation in the music industry for decades, and he has been an instrumental partner for Apple and iTunes® for more than a decade. He has produced or collaborated with some of the most successful artists in the history of the iTunes Store®, helping make it the world's number one music retailer. Iovine and Dr. Dre are sound pioneers, artists and entrepreneurs. Beats Electronics has brought the energy, emotion and excitement of playback in the recording studio back to the listening experience and has introduced an entirely new generation to premium sound entertainment. Beats Music was developed by a team of people who have each spent their entire career in music and provides music fans with an incredible curated listening experience. "Music is such an important part of Apple's DNA and always will be," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "The addition of Beats will make our music lineup even better, from free streaming with iTunes Radio to a world-class subscription service in Beats, and of course buying music from the iTunes Store as customers have loved to do for years." In just five years since launch, the Beats "b" has become the brand of choice in the music and sports worlds, and is the market leader in the premium headphone market. Music superstars including Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj have designed their own customized Beats headphones and speakers. Fashion designers and street artists such as Alexander Wang, Futura and Snarkitecture have collaborated on special limited products, while renowned athletes including LeBron James, Serena Williams and Neymar use Beats as a critical part of their training and game day process. Beats has quickly become part of pop culture in the US and with the acquisition the Beats product lineup will be offered in many more countries through the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Subject to regulatory approvals, Apple expects the transaction to close in fiscal Q4. Formally established in 2008 as the brainchild of legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre and Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records Jimmy Iovine, Beats Electronics (Beats) comprises the Beats by Dr. Dre family of premium consumer headphones, earphones, and speakers as well as patented Beats Audio software technology and streaming music subscription service Beats Music. Through these offerings, Beats has effectively brought the energy, emotion and excitement of playback in the recording studio to the listening experience and has introduced an entirely new generation to the possibilities of premium sound entertainment. Beats Music is a subscription streaming music service that focuses on providing a personalized music experience for each user through a unique blend of digital innovation and musical passion. Programmed by a trusted team of well-respected music experts with over 300 years of experience across all genres, Beats Music delivers the right music for any situation, any time, and any preference, personalized to your tastes. The result is an artist-friendly digital music service that does more than simply offer access to music, but one that establishes an emotional connection to it as well. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
Apple acquires Beats Electronics for $3 billion
Apple is making things official: Dr. Dre's Beats Electronics belongs to Cupertino, and it cost them $3 billion. Rumors had circulated that CEO Tim Cook was interested in nabbing up the audio accessory and music-streaming outfit, corroborated by a beer-drenched video in which Dre himself declared that he had become "the first billionaire in hip-hop." And now, after Financial Times had already let the cat out of the bag, we have Apple's side of the story. As expected, co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre (Andre Young) will join Cook and VP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, but their exact job titles haven't been revealed just yet.
Recommended Reading: will.i.am's Beats payday and bringing The Last of Us to PS4
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Behind the Scenes, a Frontman Awaits a Payday by Daniel Roberts, Fortune Pocket!function(d,i){if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement("script");j.id=i;j.src="https://widgets.getpocket.com/v1/j/btn.js?v=1";var w=d.getElementById(i);d.body.appendChild(j);}}(document,"pocket-btn-js"); By now, you've heard about all the money that Dr. Dre stands to pocket when the alleged Apple buyout is announced. What you may not know is that another popular musician stands to pocket a handsome sum as well. William Adams, aka will.i.am, is an equity partner in Beats Electronics and has lent a hand toward the brand's rise over the last few years. Fortune's Daniel Roberts takes a look at Mr. Adams' tech ventures and his relationship with the headphone maker -- the latter of which could spell a big payout for the artist/businessman.
Funny or Die takes a look at how Apple acquires companies
Will all the reports of Apple's still unconfirmed purchase of Beats for a reported $3.2 billion the folks over at Funny or Die got to thinking. What exactly is Tim Cook going to buy next. After all if the deal ends up being true it would be the largest acquisition in Apple history. Funny or Die reached out to an imaginary version of Apple to get the scoop on where their money is going in the future. The answers are hysterical. Apple Announces Beats Acquisition from Funny Or Die
Former eMusic CEO gives his take on rumored Apple/Beats deal
Former eMusic CEO Adam Klein took to Bloomberg last week to give his take on the rumored Apple/Beats Electronics acquisition. Echoing what many industry watchers have speculated, Klein believes that the proposed deal has everything to do with Beats' new streaming service, which is essentially like Spotify albeit with professionally curated playlists to boot. [Apple's] gotta be at the party, and it's late, and this is the quickest way to get there. So I think that's what you're seeing there. They're getting in. They have to have a forceful streaming presence. It's the dominant format, it's the drawing format. It's the only format that's growing. Certainly from the label's point of view, [in terms of] revenue generation. And for them to build it would just take too long. The notion that Apple attempting to do this themselves would take too long is certainly worth highlighting, especially considering that Apple historically prefers to develop technologies and services in-house as often as possible. The music industry, though, is changing rapidly. Digital downloads are on the decline, while streaming is on the rise. Meanwhile, iTunes Radio has seemingly done little to slow down the momentum of either Pandora or Spotify. If the Beats acquisition ultimately goes through, it stands to reason that Apple is keen on getting a streaming subscription service up and running as quickly as possible as opposed to developing one on its own. Further, on-demand streaming rights are different from the rights associated with music recommendation services like Pandora, and the last thing Apple wants or needs is to get mired down in negotiations with music labels. From this vantage point, Beats Music makes for an attractive target as it would reportedly bring music mogul, noted wheeler and dealer, and otherwise musical tour de force Jimmy Iovine onto the Apple team. As for Beats streaming itself, we reported earlier this week that Apple became interested in the service after learning how quickly it was able to transform casual listeners into paid subscribers. And while the rumored $3.2 billion purchase price admittedly seems odd given Apple's propensity not to make large monetary acquisitions, $3.2 billion as a percentage of Apple's current bank balance is less than what the company used when it acquired NeXT.
Engadget Daily: a guide to Japanese toilets, Apple eyes Beats for $3.2 billion and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Dr. Dre hints at Beats sale in exuberant party video (NSFW)
World Star Hiphop is mostly known for breaking new rap artists and posting smartphone videos of vicious fights outside of McDonalds, but today it can add "oddest news source for tech blogs" to its resume. The website just posted the following video showing Dr. Dre celebrating becoming a billionaire for unspecified reasons. At his side is Fast and Furious star Tyrese Gibson who gleefully shouts that Forbes' recently released list of hip-hop's richest artists needs to be updated. We can't quote his exact wording due to language standards on the site. It's safe to say this video has language that isn't safe for work, unless you work at a really cool office. Gibson wasn't far off with his prediction however; this morning Forbes released an article confirming that Apple's purchase would make Dr. Dre the richest man in rap. A sale for $3.2 billion would nearly double the value of Dre's holdings, though capital gains taxes could take a bite out of his big payday, likely leaving him with a net worth in the neighborhood of $800 million. It's not quite enough to land on the Forbes 400, but it would easily make him hip-hop's richest man, topping current champion Diddy by $100 million. Om has a wonderful piece up now examining the possible pros and cons for each side in this sale, with the clear advantage for Apple being the acquisition of Beat's pre-existing streaming service. This deal is about fighting Spotify and the only way for them to justify the price is that Beats has deals with music labels that allow it to transfer streaming rights to a third party - in this case Apple. The deal does puts Apple at an advantage. Others like Rhapsody and Rdio pay a penalty - a 30 percent Apple tax is there is an in-app subscription sale. Apple can push the Beats Audio app on iTunes store to drive up subscriptions. For Beats, this is a good escape from a seemingly tenuous situation. They don't have the cash for a worldwide rollout and frankly, the service isn't all that good compared to Spotify. With about 200,000 subscribers, they were struggling and had to buckle and agree to pay the Apple store tax (30 percent) a few weeks ago in order to get traction. This wouldn't be the first time Apple and Dr. Dre have worked together. Dre famously video chatted with Steve Jobs about the launch of iTunes at an Apple event over a decade ago. You can watch that charmingly awkward video below.
Apple potential acquisition of Beats Electronics and other news for May 9, 2014
In this morning's Apple news, Nokia's photography lead has moved over to Apple and a little bit of music news. Stop me if you've heard this one. The Internet exploded today with news of Apple's potential acquisition of Beats Music. Note that this is not a formally-announced deal as of this writing. The Financial Times broke the story, claiming that Apple is set to pay US$3.2 billion for the young music company. That would be Apple's largest acquisition yet, and give it a huge leg up in competing with the likes of Spotify. Apple has hired Nokia's Ari Partinen. Former photography lead at Nokia's Lumia division has announced his move to Apple via Twitter. Partinen oversaw the cameras in the N8 and the 41-megapixel 808 PureView.
What does hip-hop's 'first billionaire' have that Apple wants?
"Oh Shit, the Forbes list just changed." The words come from Tyrese Gibson about a minute into a video posted to (and since pulled from) Facebook just a few hours ago. Gibson is talking about Dr. Dre, who stands behind him, arm draped over his shoulder. Dre himself then addresses the camera directly, boasting "The first billionaire in hip-hop, right here." High spirits (and, be warned, very colorful language) pepper the video thanks to "all the Heinekens" that have evidently been drunk. Celebrations? If you'd just secured a $3.2 billion deal for your company, you'd probably splash out on a case of dutch courage or two, too. Sure, this is still not actual confirmation, but it's the nearest thing to public acknowledgement of the buyout yet. Why, then, do many still feel like the deal makes no sense?
Apple is reportedly close to buying Beats for $3.2 billion
The days of Apple limiting itself to (relatively) small acquisitions may soon be over. The Financial Times hears from sources that the folks at 1 Infinite Loop are close to buying Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion. It's not clear exactly why the company would splurge on such a deal, although there are some strong incentives -- Beats Music could provide Apple with a streaming music platform more advanced than iTunes Radio, while Beats' audio hardware could complement existing iOS and Mac devices. Apple hasn't commented on the rumor, but the rumored deal could be official as early as next week -- we'll know the truth soon enough.
Beats Music update lets you subscribe from inside the iOS app
Odds are that you weren't riveted by Beats Music when it first arrived, but the streaming service has just delivered a pair of big updates that may give you a good excuse to tune in. For the iOS app, the biggest improvement is visible when you're signing up -- you can now subscribe from within the software rather than heading to the web. The move makes it that much easier to keep the music flowing after your trial is over, and may just help Beats grow its fledgling customer base.
Chevrolet adds Beats Music streaming to its in-car system as Beats opens its API to developers
Beats Music is already integrated with Apple's CarPlay system, which means you'll be able to stream music from Beats' catalog in any vehicle that happens to have Apple's setup installed. Now, new API support could mean we'll be able to kick out the jams from even more cars. The streaming music service made its API public today, a move that gives third-party developers access to its vast music collection. In particular, developers get access to the company's library of tunes, album art and track metadata (Beats previously shared its API privately with a few big names like Sonos and Bop.fm). So far, Chevrolet has announced it's adding Beats to its AppShop system -- and we're sure it won't be the last company to do so.
Beats Pill XL review: Dr. Dre's newest speaker is supersized and super loud
Back in 2012, Beats unveiled its diminutive Pill wireless speaker in a bid to steal the Jambox's thunder. Since then, its main rival hasn't exactly been standing still: Jawbone has released two more Bluetooth speakers, including the well-received Big Jambox. Not to be outdone, Dr. Dre & co. recently began selling a super-sized version of their own: the $300 Beats Pill XL. As the name suggests, it is indeed a larger version of the original and it packs a much larger punch in the sound department as well. The list of features is nearly identical too, with NFC, dual 3.5mm jacks, a heavy dose of bass and more than a day's worth of battery life. Heck, you can even use the speakers to charge your phone, should the need arise. But let's be honest: Bluetooth speakers come a dime a dozen these days. It's not uncommon for press releases on six, seven, eight models to hit our inboxes in the course of a week. Given that the market's so saturated, has Beats done enough to stand apart? And what of this new form factor? Does the increased bulk make the Pill XL too big for its britches? Let's find out.
Get an additional week of free tunes if you sign up for Beats Music soon (update: two weeks!)
With just how popular Beats headphones are, we can't say we're surprised that Dr. Dre's similarly named music service has had a hard time coping with a flood of users during launch. As such, Beats Music isn't accepting any new subscribers until the kinks are worked out, but there is a silver lining. So long as you download the app and reserve your username this week, you'll get an additional seven days to trial the service. Once the issues are worked out, you should get an email giving you the all clear -- hopefully that's before its Windows Phone launch in a few days. It's not like you have to live your life in silence until then, though. Last we checked, Rdio, Spotify, Music Unlimited and Xbox Music were all working just fine. Update: CEO Ian Rogers has put out a blog post indicating the issues should be resolved, and that better yet, anyone who signs up before Saturday evening will get two weeks free trial.
Music apps that use YouTube to listen to your favorite songs for free
Today Beats launched its own music service, which I'm trying out for the 7-day trial period. Engadget has a good writeup of the Beats Music experience here. I previously subscribed to Spotify, Rdio and Pandora. I've also been a big fan of Slacker (the comedy channels are awesome), Stitcher (for news) and TuneIn (for local radio stations). Everyone is trying to make money in the music game, so to get the most out of these services you'll wind up needing a subscription. Through the magic of YouTube, however, I found a couple of solutions that won't cost you anything (except maybe your soul), and allow you to make playlists. Ultimately there are a few problems with apps like this, not the least of which involves a lack of payment to the artist*. Then again, it's not like any artists are getting rich off streaming media playback to begin with. No, the real problem you'll find with apps like this has more to do with the availability of certain music on YouTube. Some is great, and from the original artist. Some, like Bob Marley, has been covered so often (and so badly) that it won't make for a great experience unless you are dedicated to curating your music list. Then again, I also found some rare stuff I didn't have on my Marley boxed set from the 1990's, so there's that. If you've got the time, however, these apps are a cheap way to listen to the songs you want without monthly fees. There's also a category of apps that let you "download" "free" music on the web and play it back. These are mostly just a media playback app with a web app that allows you to download files into the app for playback. It's possible for us to sift through these in another post, although most of the ones I tried initially were just terrible, both in design and functionality. One last thing: You can play YouTube in the background, but you can't do it from the app. Using Safari, you can play media in the background using this tip. Oh, and of course there are plenty more apps in the store that let you do this, but these are the ones I tested. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Musi Since I last looked at Musi, it has added a requirement to sign up for an account (just for the app, not for YouTube). That's a bummer, because Musi, aside from mandatory sign up on first launch, is really a great example of how to make an app like this. It also prompts twice for my phone number, which I was not fond of, but is used to power "social" stuff (pardon me while I go punch a wall). That said, once I set up an account my previous songs were still in Musi! The design in Musi is top notch, providing a simple, straightforward approach. You can make playlists, repeat, shuffle, most everything you can do with any music player. There's not even a skip when you exit the app, unlike most other similar apps I tested. It works great with the lock screen player controls. The developer of Musi tells me that he pulls the lowest quality video from YouTube while pulling the best audio from it in the background. In fact, you'll never see the video. Unfortunately Musi is not without bugs, as one of the songs I tried to play gave up about a minute in, and the app skipped happily to the next one in my queue. If you loved 8-tracks or early CD players, you'll love this feature. But Musi is the best-looking app of all the ones I tested, and the most reliable overall. The biggest missing feature is a cache, so you'll need a network to play anything. Those sharing features allow you to connect with friends, etc. but services like Spotify do this so well already, bombarding my Facebook timeline night and day, that I don't find the utility worth the hassle. Then again, I'm the only "friend" using Musi. MB (MixerBox) This app offers some "collections" based on popular artists at the time (Rhianna, Eminem, Katy Perry, etc.). While handy, MB wanted me to sign in with Facebook (I chose to "sign in later"), then presented a dialog with OK as the only option, which took me to the app store to "buy" a "free today only" version of the app I had already downloaded on my iPad -- apparently v.2 of this very same app! While the DJ button should let friends who use the app (and who sign up via Facebook) to create playlists for you, I didn't bother. Why? The very first video I played wouldn't stop playing. Pause didn't work, closing the app does what it should and continues playing and clicking "Done" put the video away just to have it pop back into view. I had to force quit the app, then I deleted it. I put MB in here as an example of just how terrible most of these apps are. Go ahead and see if it works for you, it's free! And you get what you pay for. FoxTuber My son mentioned this one to me, and I can see why. He has an iPod touch, and FoxTuber allows you to download (cache) several songs for offline playback. The paid version allows for a few more. For a kid, this is a pretty decent app to use if you only need a dozen or so songs to carry around. In this version, you pay US$.99 to remove ads. There's a US$2.99 version, but I honestly couldn't find what was different between it and this free one. You can also save movies, but keep in mind a feature film will eat up a lot more memory. Operation of FoxTuber is simple, although it won't win any design awards. One nice feature: You can flip between different countries easily. One thing you won't enjoy: The ads strewn across the interface. Free Music - Music Tube Collection Oh, what's not to love when an app has "Download free app!" in the title? Well, the interface could use some work. You have to find songs and add them to your "library" (not the official one -- these will not appear in your iOS Music app) before you can play anything. This app also allows you to localize by country easily, and does provide a handy breakdown by genre. This one also has a cache, which is limited to 20 songs in the free version. US$2.99 will unlock the cache limit, although again you're going to find apps will crash if you load too much into them on an older iOS device. This app allows you to view the video if you wish. It also displays the album art on your lock screen, which was rare in the apps I tested. You can also download a cached version of the song, although there's a limit which you can unlock via an in-app purchase of US$2.99 (which also removes ads). Conclusion You can guess that most of these apps are pretty terrible. They do one thing, and most do it with the style of a garbage scow sidling up to an oil derrick -- in other words, they are gross and unwieldy. Still, if you're a cheapskate who just wants to listen to what you want to listen to when you want to listen to it, you have numerous terrible options. I don't recommend paying for any of these, as I don't think the vast majority are stable products that will enjoy a long life on the App Store. But for now, if you want free, they exist for your listening pleasure. *To be fair, YouTube (meaning Google) pays licensing fees. No, not every video is accounted for, but most of them are, and the official music videos are definitely being paid for in accordance with licensing terms.
Beats Music to reach Windows Phone listeners on January 24th
Beats Music launched with a lot of fanfare today, but you may have noticed that its promised Windows Phone client is missing. What happened? As it turns out, the app is just fashionably late -- Beats' Ian Rogers says that the Windows Phone edition should be available on January 24th. That's unfortunate for Lumia-toting listeners who wanted to try Beats Music on day one, but there's no shortage of alternative services to use in the meantime.
MOG to close in April as subscribers offered (small) incentive to move to Beats Music
We don't know how many subscribers MOG has managed to hold onto since it was acquired by Beats in 2012, but soon the number will be zero. Following yesterday's launch of the all-new Beats Music streaming service, MOG is effectively defunct: users will stop being billed after March 15th and those with an annual subscription will get a refund for unused time once the service closes finally on April 15th. Anyone expecting Dr. Dre to ring the doorbell and offer them a chauffeur-driven ride to the replacement service may be disappointed: the main incentive on the table is a month's free trial of Beats Music, and playlists won't be transferable. In other words, it'll almost be like starting from scratch, which means this is as good a time as any to start shopping around.
Beats Music builds a unique, if messy, listening experience around emotion
The Beats empire has officially expanded beyond its humble headphone roots. Beats Music has officially launched (download it from the iTunes App Store here), and become the latest contestant for your streaming music dollar. Of course, the market for such services is already pretty crowded. Between Spotify, Google Play and Rdio (just to name a few) one might wonder "why bother?" Well, the company thinks there's plenty of fish in the sea who haven't jumped aboard the music subscription bandwagon just yet. While we're sure execs are hoping to convert a few listeners along the way, they're more concerned with broadening the pool of customers. After two years of plugging away, with a little help from Trent Reznor and its MOG acquisition, Beats feels it has something unique to offer; something built around curation, emotion and a personalized user experience. It all sounds good in theory, but the real question is whether or not the reality lives up to the promise. As usual, the answer is complicated and it awaits you after the break.
Beats Music is launching January 21st -- here's a sneak peek
That's Beats' new streaming service. No surprise, of course. Seems like the Jimmy Iovine / Dr. Dre's red headphone-pushing company has been eyeing the space since the World Class Wreckin' Cru days. Last month, the company offered up a bit of information in the form of an online teaser, noting that it would finally be dropping in January. The exact date, it turns out, is the 21st, though the company happily let us download an iOS teaser of the offering (it'll be available on "nearly all the major platforms" at launch according to the company). The product is reportedly the culmination of two years of work, an attempt to approach music streaming from a different angle -- namely populism. The rep I spoke with told me the company sees many of the current streaming offerings as appealing primarily to the early adopter. The first part of the solution is the "on-boarding" process. Here you tap bubbles on a series of screens, first designating your favorite genres (one tap for "like," two taps for "love" and holding down on the bubble to make it disappear -- take that, electronic music). Next up, do the same thing with artists, designating your favorites amongst the offerings. Then, the system begins "curating music based on what you like." The idea is somewhere between a Spotify and a Pandora, offering up custom playlists based on your listening habits, curation that will change as you continue to utilize the service. The playlists, as the company puts it, are based on ""feels like, not sounds like," and future iterations will also include options to make it possible to follow your listening habits based on location, so you can, say, get a workout playlist when you're at the gym.
