Apple is in talks over acquiring a stake in iHeartMedia, according to a new report.
Sources say the company could invest millions of dollars to help save the struggling U.S. radio group, which filed for bankruptcy back in March. However, negotiations are at an early stage for now and no deal has been agreed yet.
Apple has published an updated iPhone User Guide for iOS 12.1 ahead of its public release. The document confirms a number of new features are on the way in this update, including Group FaceTime and Dual SIM support for the latest iPhone lineup.
It also details improvements to Apple Music and more.
You know how you can download a copy of all the data Apple holds on you? For many folks, this is an academic issue — it’s interesting to know about, but of little practical value. But a tool from developer Pat Murray lets you visualize your Apple Music listening habits, using a browser-based tool.
All you need is one small file from your Apple data dump — and Murray’s Apple Music Analyser.
Spotify has seen a rise in Premium subscriptions after the music streaming service started cracking down on family plan subscribers who aren’t really family.
New data reveals 38 percent of Spotify users in the U.S. now pay for the Premium service — up from 36 percent last quarter. Apple Music remains the only platform that has presented Spotify with real competition, but it still has a lot of catching up to do.
Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor says he quit his job at Apple because he felt “guilty” over abandoning his work as an artist in favor of a product design and marketing job.
“I have a mixed set of feelings about the whole thing,” he admitted in a recent interview with Stereogum. Reznor joined Apple back in 2014 as part of the $3 billion Beats acquisition. After joining, he worked on a secret project which turned out to be the launch of Apple Music.
Analysts are predicting big things for Apple’s App Store business ahead of the company’s Q4 2018 earnings report coming on November 1.
Search ads from the App Store could generate over $500 million in revenue during all of 2018, according to Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi. Even better, Sacconahi thinks the App Store ad business could be worth a whopping $2 billion by the end of 2020.
The music industry loses $2.65B annually because small businesses are using music streaming services like Apple Music or Spotify without a license.
Nielsen Music surveyed 5,000 small business around the world and found a majority streamed music with a personal account, with many not knowing a business license for streaming music is required by law.
Apple has acquired a music analytics startup called Asaii, according to a new report.
It is believed the acquisition, which could help Apple deliver better recommendations to Apple Music subscribers, cost less than $100 million. Asaii claims its platform can pick out the hottest artists “10 weeks to a year” before they even hit the charts.
If you’ve ever wanted to dive more deeply into the music you love, boy, have we got the announcement for you! Starting today, digital media company Genius (formerly Rap Genius) is teaming up with Apple Music to provide annotations and song lyrics to “thousands of songs” on the platform.
Following in the footsteps of fellow ex-BBC presenter Zane Lowe and others, UK-based hip-hop DJ Charlie Sloth will be leaving his job presenting on the BBC to join Apple Music.
Sloth is a presenter on both BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. He has been a BBC broadcaster for the past decade, and is best known for hosting the popular rap freestyle segment, “Fire in the Booth.”
Apple Music is teaming up for an exclusive playlist deal with the popular Ministry of Sound music label. The first playlist is set to debut on Thursday, October 4.
The move isn’t just about helping Apple, however. It also hurts Spotify, the only other streaming music company to offer much of a challenge to Apple Music. At present, the Ministry of Sound has several popular playlists on Spotify, which will be removed from all non-Apple streaming services in the days to come.
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! is partnering up with Apple to help the streaming service give more exposure to new and emerging musical artists.
The two sides revealed today that the second iteration of Apple Music’s “Up Next” program will let bands and other musical acts perform on Kimmel’s stage. K-pop boy band NCT 127 will be the first group to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, marking the first time Apple has promoted Korean band for its tastemaker series.
You can already get an early glimpse of their new single:
Two of the biggest companies in the music business are teaming up to try to better take on Spotify and Apple Music.
Sirius XM revealed today that it plans to acquire the music streaming service Pandora in a $3.5 billion all-stock deal. The merger is far from a done deal though and according to a report, Pandora will have the opportunity to find a better deal from another company.
Apple has confirmed its acquisition of Shazam is now complete, nine months after it was first announced.
The company’s first move will be to rid the music service, which is used more than 20 million times every single day, of pesky ads that most users have to endure. Later on, Apple promises more great ways to discover and enjoy music.
Streaming music has come a long way! According to a new report, the number of people now paying a monthly music streaming subscription in the U.S. is around 51 million. That’s close to double the number at the end of 2016!
In total, last year, streaming music services accounted for 65 percent of the recorded music revenue in the U.S. Spotify and Apple Music combined dominate “at least 80 percent” of the domestic music streaming market, and other platforms — including ones belonging to big names like Amazon and Google — are already, “falling surprisingly far behind.”
Apple will begin publishing “Top 100” Apple Music charts from its 50 million-plus subscribers as it seeks to apply more muscle in an ultra-competitive music-streaming business.
Apple quietly launched a software update today to roll out the numeric charts that will show a global “Top 100” plus lists for the top-streamed songs in every country the service is offered.
Right now, a lot of the discussion of Apple’s original video content focuses on the drama series the company is developing. But Apple’s not abandoning its focus on creating videos to promote Apple Music musicians — as a pair of new teaser trailers make clear.
The short teasers are for an upcoming documentary to coincide with Chris, artist Héloïse Letissier’s second album as Christine and The Queens. Check them out below.
Apple Music is about to get a big upgrade on Android.
A beta version of its next major update reveals Android Auto support is on the way. A number of other new features will also be added to bring the Android version of the app in line with its counterpart on iOS.
Brian Bumbery, a veteran PR strategist who worked closely with musical acts including Metallica, Green Day, Madonna and others, has joined Apple as director of Apple Music Publicity.
Apple has been trying to buy Shazam since last December, but the deal has been held up for months by regulators in the EU. That’s reportedly just about to change.
It’s likely Apple wants this music-identification app as part of its ongoing battle with Spotify.
Beats 1 Radio host Zane Lowe says he’s excited that Apple Music’s competitors are starting to rip off his live streaming radio show.
Lowe, who left the BBC’s Radio 1 to lead Beats 1 Radio, said in a recent interview that he still questions how his radio show fits in with the music scene. In the age of social media where artists can interact directly with fans, radio hosts don’t seem like a necessity, but Spotify and YouTube Music are planning to launch radio shows of their own and Lowe is ready to welcome them to the league.
If you’re a Prince fan and an Apple Music subscriber, today is your lucky day! That’s because the Prince Estate and Sony’s Legacy Recordings have released 23 of the Purple One’s albums, covering the latter half of his career, on streaming services.
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s tweet mourning the death of soul singer Aretha Franklin was among countless remembrances flooding social media this morning after news of her passing began to spread.
Cook’s heartfelt message included a black-and-white photo of the Queen of Soul belting out a song during a recording session.
Spotify is exploring new ways to let users on its free tier skip audio and video ads whenever they want.
The feature gives listeners the chance to get back to their music more quickly by skipping ads they’re not interested in. The company is currently user-testing the feature in Australia, with plans to later roll it out elsewhere.
U.S. telecoms try to lure new customers with free streaming services. Verizon has teamed up with Apple to offer half a year of Apple Music at no additional cost.
What’s even ore interesting is that the wireless provider calls this “just the first step in an exclusive partnership with Apple.”
