Beyonce

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Beyoncé’s Lemonade album finally lands on Apple Music

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Lemonade
The lauded album arrives on Apple Music three years after its release.
Photo: Columbia

Update: Beyoncé’s acclaimed Lemonade album finally arrived on Apple Music — three years after its debut.

Originally dropped on April 23, 2016, Lemonade is the singer’s sixth studio album and second “visual album.” It was accompanied by a 65-minute film. This marks the first time all of Bey’s back catalog is available for streaming on Apple Music.

So much for Tidal! Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s joint album already on Apple Music

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Jay-Z and Beyoncé
This is the power couple's first joint album.
Photo: Jay-Z and Beyoncé

Jay-Z may be the founder of Tidal, but it seems that he still cares more about streaming numbers than he does about long-term exclusives for this streaming company. At least, that’s the big takeaway from the fact that his joint album with wife Beyoncé is already available on Apple Music.

The album, titled Everything is Love, debuted on Tidal as a very short-lived exclusive over the weekend. Along with Apple Music, the new album is also available on iTunes, Spotify’s premium tier, Google Play, Amazon Music, and more.

Jay Z takes shots at Jimmy Iovine and Apple Music on latest album

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Jay Z
Jay Z's got 99 problems, and Apple Music is one.
Photo: Flickr/NRK P3

The new album from Jay Z is nearly impossible to stream through legal methods this week, but if you are one of the lucky few that gets to listen to it, you’ll hear the Jigga Man taking shots at one of his biggest rivals: Apple Music.

On one of the tracks for his album 4:44, Jay Z — owner of the struggling music streaming service Tidal — calls out Apple Music boss Jimmy Iovine and talks about his beef with Apple saying he wants more than what Apple offers artists.

Beyoncé lends a hand in colorful Apple Watch ad

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Apple Watch is the perfect workout companion.
Apple Watch is the perfect workout companion.
Photo: Apple

Apple dropped a colorful new ad for the Apple Watch Series 2 this morning to promote the wearable’s fitness features and waterproof design.

The fun new Apple Watch ad features a cast of different athletes going through their workouts while Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” blasts throughout the video. Other athletes and adventurers can be spotted in the minute-long ad that encourages watchers to “live bright.”

Check it out:

Apple Music exclusives earn artists one-way trip to Spotify hell [Update: Spotify denies]

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Spotify punishes artists for giving Apple Music exclusives.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Scoring an exclusive album deal with Apple Music can be highly lucrative for artists looking for independence, but it might come with some serious payback from Spotify, which is reportedly punishing musicians that sign such deals.

Musicians have been dragged into the fight between Apple and Spotify, according to new reports saying Apple’s rival is threatening to bury artists in its search results. Meanwhile, Spotify has denied the accusations, which come from anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg and The New York Times.

Spotify enlists Lady Gaga’s manager to fight Apple Music

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Troy Carter is bringing his talents to Spotify.
Troy Carter is bringing his talents to Spotify.
Photo: TechCrunch/Flickr

The battle between Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music for exclusive content from artists is about to get fiercer, thanks to a new hire from Spotify that has connections to some of the hottest musicians around.

Troy Carter, the guy who helped turn Lady Gaga and Meghan Trainor into pop superstars, is reportedly joining Spotify to help it scores more exclusive music deals to draw in subscribers.

Drake’s Views racks up 250 million streams on Apple Music

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Apple Music and Drake
Let's hear it for high-res Drake tracks.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s big bet on Drake is paying off huge for both sides and shattering records in the process.

Drake’s new album Views is only available on Apple Music, but it’s already been streamed over 250 million times in its first week and his album sales are on pace to be the biggest release by a male artist since Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience.

Beyoncé’s sixth album, Lemonade, squeezes onto iTunes

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Lemonade
Queen B is back!
Photo: Parkwood Entertainment

Released on Friday as a short-lived Tidal exclusive, Beyoncé’s latest album, entitled Lemonade, is now available to download via iTunes — comprising 12 music tracks, a one-hour film produced for HBO, and a “digital booklet.”

The $17.99 Lemonade has so far received strong critical reviews, although we’ll have to wait and see whether it can come close to achieving her last album’s record-breaking sales feat, which became the fastest-selling album in iTunes history.

Kanye’s new album might be released as free iTunes exclusive

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Yeezus is ready to launch Apple's new music streaming service.
Yeezus is ready to launch Apple's new music streaming service.
Photo: Adweek

Kanye West was part of Jay Z’s small army of megastars that helped launch Tidal, but when it comes to his next album, Ye is reportedly looking to take the U2 route by releasing it on iTunes for free.

According to a new rumor on Twitter, Apple and Kanye are joining forces for the launch of the company’s new music streaming service. As a gift to the fans, Yeezy has agreed to release his new album ‘Swish’ for free after Apple paid him nearly double what he expected to make of album sales.

Almost half of Tidal’s founders could have to pull their own music

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Even Jay Z's wife may find her music vanishing from Tidal.

7 of the 15 artists with an ownership stake in Jay Z’s troubled Tidal streaming music service may have their music pulled from it as a result of Jay Z failing to reach a music licencing agreement with Sony, which owns many of the streaming rights to the musicians in question.

Alicia Keys, Daft Punk, Jack White, Calvin Harris, J Cole, Usher have all released albums under one of Sony’s labels, while even Jay’s own wife Beyonce could see her music vanish from her husband’s attempt at a challenger to digital music giants like Spotify and Apple.

Beyonce shows off Apple Watch band you can’t have at Coachella

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yonce watch
Photo: Beyonce

The latest celebrity to flaunt an Apple Watch is none other than Queen B herself. Today Beyonce posted photos of herself at Coachella wearing the 18-karat Apple Watch Edition and a custom band you can’t buy.

One of iTunes’ most beloved artists has a solid gold link bracelet for the Watch that Apple doesn’t sell officially. And it probably costs more than the Edition itself.

The 18 most GIF-able moments of 2014

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High five for the best GIFs of 2014. Photo: Deathdragon1987/
High five for the best GIFs of 2014. Photo: Deathdragon1987/Imgur

We’re nearly a week away from ringing in the new year and all the craziness that 2015 is going to bring with it, but before we go into holiday hibernation mode, we wanted to take a look back at the most GIF-worthy events of 2014.

From Ellen’s hilarious Oscar selfie, to ‘the greatest catch ever’, 2014 was filled with incredible moments that captured the Internet’s fascination thanks to the glory of the GIFs.

Without further adieu, these were our favorite GIFs of 2014:

Amazon Throws Its Toys Out The Pram Because iTunes Got Beyoncé Album First

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She may have the fastest selling album in iTunes history, but not everyone is happy with Beyoncé’s success — and it’s not just limited to brick-and-mortar stores either.

Responding to Beyoncé’s iTunes exclusive, Amazon has joined Target in announcing that it will not stock physical copies of the Beyoncé album (although the album is available from Amazon’s online US MP3 store if a customer searches for it).

Why Apple’s Heartfelt Holiday Promo Might Be Their Best Ad Yet [CultCast]

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cultcast news team

On our all-new CultCast: Apple has a new Christmas commercial and some are hailing it as their best ad yet; Mac Pro is Apple’s most powerful computer ever; Beyonce’s iTunes-only album release breaks all the records; an alarming new study shows pervs can use your Mac’s camera to peep your naked bod; and we choose on our favorite Christmas movies of all time!

Have a few laughs whilst getting caught up on each week’s finest Apple stories! Download new and past episodes of The CultCast on iTunes or hit play below and let the audio enjoyment commence.

Thanks to DigiDNA and MacUpdate for sponsoring this episode. Need an easy way to wirelessly transfer movies, music, and data to and from your iDevice? You need DiskAid. Plus check out Macupdate’s new holiday app bundle and get $400 worth great apps for only $40.

Target Won’t Sell New Beyoncé Album Because iTunes Had It First

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Queen B, Apple, and Target do not all see eye to eye.
Queen B, Apple, and Target do not all see eye to eye.

Beyoncé rocked the internet last weekend when she released her self-titled album in the iTunes Store as a total surprise. In exchange for launch exclusivity, Apple gave her the red carpet treatment in iTunes and iTunes Radio. The move was a smart one, as Beyoncé is the fastest selling album in iTunes history, moving an insane 828,773 units within the first three days of availability.

Target, another big music retailer that prides itself on exclusive deals with artists, isn’t too happy about Beyoncé’s decision to go the iTunes route.

Beyoncé’s Surprise Record Is Now The Fastest Selling Album In iTunes History

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Beyonce surprised us last Friday by exclusively releasing her fifth album, BEYONCÉ, on iTunes without even a whisper of a warning that it was coming out. The sneak attack was aimed at stopping pirates from siphoning off Queen B’s honey and it looks like it was a wild success.

Apple announced today that BEYONCÉ has become the fast selling album ever on iTunes with an ungodly 828,773 albums sold on the first three days alone. Who says you can’t sell a million records in a week anymore?

VEVO Updates iOS App With Full AirPlay Support

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You can’t get music videos on MTV anymore, but that doesn’t mean the 60-inch TV strapped to your wall can’t get jiggy with Beyonce and Katy Perry’s newest music vids. VEVO announced today that it has added full AirPlay support to its iOS app, allowing users to stream audio and video to an Apple TV.

iOS 6 Expected To Arrive At 1 P.M. Eastern, 10 A.M. Pacific

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What time will iOS 6 arrive in your country?
What time will iOS 6 arrive in your country?

With iOS 6 making its public debut today, I’m sure some of you are sitting in front of iTunes with your iOS device plugged into your computer, mashing that ‘Update’ button as much as humanly possible in the hope that any time now, Apple will open the gate. Well, you may want to give your fingers a rest, because it could be a few hours yet before iOS 6 drops.