Apple plans to launch a new streaming music service this spring, but music industry insiders say Apple isn’t trying to just compete with Spotify, it wants to become the music business.
Tim Cook and Jimmy Iovine were two of the most in-demand people at this year’s Grammys. Eddy Cue and iTunes VP Robert Kondrk were also in attendance according to a new report from Billboard, which claims artists and labels execs alike were lined up at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala to get a meeting with the biggest names in tech that are now poised to take on music, again.
Jimmy Iovine has devoted recent weeks to meeting senior execs at major and indie labels to talk about the new music service that will launch by summer at the latest and come alongside a major redesign of the iTunes Store as the company struggles to adapt to decline music sales.
Insiders told Billboard that Apple plans to give iTunes a major scrubbing by tossing out thousands music titles, including soundalikes and covers, at the discretion of Apple’s tastemakers. Apple also plans to ban artist re-recordings in favor of original and best-of album versions.
The iTunes cleanup will come in tandem with the new streaming service that will ditch Beats signature look for a UI that’s more in-line with iOS 8 and the Music app.
Apple’s biggest weapon against Spotify is the 800 million credit cards it already has on file, compared to Spotify’s 15 million subscribers. To boost sales, Apple plans to add a featured artist slider that will be chosen by sales velocity, which has some execs fearing for indie labels who may find it harder to compete in the new iTunes store.
Pricing is currently being debated at $7.99 per month with no free version available, but there will also be an Android version available. Apple’s successor to Beats Music will be integrated into an upcoming release of iOS and a marketing campaign featuring artists recruited by Jimmy and Dre is already in the works.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
10 responses to “Apple aims much higher than Spotify with upcoming music service”
What does this mean for the future of iTunes Radio?
I think that iTunes Radio would be the only free option available for this new service. That might be the reason why there would not be a free version. It would help push people towards iTunes Radio, if they did not want to pay. Just a guess.
I’d be happy if Apple just pulled the 25,000 song limit from iTunes Match (or would let me pay a prorated fee for the amount above 25,000). I would love to have access to my entire music collection wherever there’s wifi.
Again, I don’t have the data plan for this. I will continue to buy my music. Thanks.
On T-Mobile any music streamming is free.
One of the side effects is likely to be deals with carriers to provide free music streaming.
Its my understanding that artist re-recordings are a way for artist to take back control of their music from the labels. A lot of the older bands contracts were before the age of streaming music and the labels didn’t include streaming rights or royalties. Those bands re-record their albums so they can get paid, so by Apple siding with the record labels and not allowing those re-recordings those bands end up getting the shaft?
Valid point.
Yes. That said, those new recordings often sound awful compared to the originals, because they are done on the cheap and without all of the original people. I’m in the business, so I fully understand the need for label-abandoned artists (not just ‘older’ ones), but as a consumer as well, I hate re-recordings and never buy them. Covers and karaoke versions are also becoming a cancer on digital music stores, polluting search results with cheap junk that is very un-Apple-like. I can understand where this culling plan is coming from, if it’s true.
One possible upside: If the re-recordings are good enough, Apple ‘tastemakers’ won’t be able to tell, and they’ll remain. An expert producer can make that happen, and I’d expect no less from the artists that have earned my respect and my money.
Or they should let it go and create something new.
I can see a possible future. Each band has their own iOS app with in-app purchases to buy songs, albums, videos, etc or a monthly subscription that gets you all that plus streaming access to their back catalogue. Most bands only make one album a year so even if they made it $10/year that would still rake in a lot of money for the artists.