On Tuesday, June 30, Apple Music goes live and it may very well be the next evolution in the music industry like iTunes before it. With Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio breathing down Apple’s neck, the house that Steve Jobs built is ready to take on the competition with both feet in, offering up a subscription-based streaming service as well as a 24/7 global Internet radio station.
Apple unveiled Apple Music at WWDC earlier this month, and you can learn all about it there. Today I’m here to discuss what’s new before the service rolls out tomorrow morning. First let’s talk exclusives. In order to compete with the aforementioned competition, Apple is taking advantage of its artist relationships to bring special content to Apple Music that listeners won’t be able to find elsewhere. After pulling her latest album 1989 from Spotify’s library, country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift is granting Apple Music streaming rights to it. This followed, of course, Swift’s public letter to Apple regarding paying artists (both large and indie) royalties during users’ free three-month trial periods. Apple’s Senior VP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue swiftly took to Twitter to announce his company’s about-face. The indie community, as well as Swift, backed Apple’s decision to pay artists before users’ subscriptions kick in and this seemingly opened the floodgates for more goodwill and exciting exclusives coming to Apple Music. Pharrell is debuting his brand new single “Freedom” exclusively on the service on Tuesday, and it will likely come packaged with a music video. Additionally, Dr. Dre’s iconic rap album The Chronic will stream digitally for the first time on Apple Music; due to a legal spat, the Beats co-founder couldn’t even get it spinning on the Beats Music service before Apple gobbled it up.
The remainder of new information surrounds Beats 1, the new global radio station powered by Apple and run by former BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe. He’ll be broadcasting from Los Angeles, and two other hand-picked DJs–Hot 97’s Ebro Darden and UK tastemaker Julie Adenuga–will broadcast live from New York City and London, respectively. In an interview with The New York Times, Lowe shared his aspirations for Beats 1, after the break. Continue reading Apple Music and Beats 1 launch Tuesday, here’s what you need to know
