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Apple Music - page 17

Take back your music library with Cesium [50 Essential iOS Apps #46]

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Cesium album view Airplane Mode
Escape the annoyance of Apple Music and enjoy your personal music library with Cesium
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

50 Essential iOS Apps: Cesium When Apple Music launched in 2015, the service received mixed reviews. One of the biggest gripes was the impact it had on the Music app. Instead of it being a place for your music library, the app began catering to the streaming service.

Cesium offers a better music library experience. The simple, brilliant app brings back the classic Music app (aka the “iPod” app), making it easy to view and enjoy your personal song library.

Tim Cook: We’re not doing Apple Music for the money

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Tim cook
Apple has a smart strategy when it comes to music.
Photo: Apple

In a short interview for Fast Company, Tim Cook raves about his love of music, and talks about Apple’s reasons for getting into the space with Apple Music.

“I couldn’t make it through a workout without music,” Cook said. “Music inspires, it motivates. It’s also the thing at night that helps quiet me. I think it’s better than any medicine.”

Apple Music adds new Friends Mix playlist

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apple-music
Grab the latest update from the Play Store now.
Photo: Apple

You don’t want to be that guy who’s never heard the track all your friends are raving about. But if you use Apple Music, you don’t have to be.

The new “Friends Mix” playlist makes it easy to enjoy the songs your friends can’t get enough of. It’s updated every week, and you can enjoy it now across all devices.

The biggest takeaways from Apple’s dominant Q3 earnings results

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Apple is made of money.
Apple is made of money.
Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple beat Wall Street’s expectations today with its Q3 2018 earnings report. Even though iPhone sales were barely up 1% the company still posted better-than-expected revenues as sales of Apple Watch, services and AirPods picked up the slack leading to Apple’s best Q3 results ever.

Prices of Apple shares skyrocketed closer to the illustrious $204 mark that will make the iPhone-maker the first ever trillion dollar company once the results posted and Tim Cook seemed extremely confident and relaxed on his call with investors this afternoon. While the rest of tech stocks are starting to sink, Apple is as steady ever.

Apple earnings: Can Cupertino’s latest surprise save the Street? [Live blog]

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Will Apple reach its own targets for Q2?
Apple's Q3 2018 earnings are expected to be the weakest of the year.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s weakest earnings report of 2018 is set to be revealed today but it might also contain a few clues about the 2018 iPhone launch this fall.

Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri will talk to investors on an open call at 2 p.m. Pacific. Analysts don’t expect a huge boost in iPhone sales and revenue (in fact some are downright pessimistic). However, Apple could pull out a few surprises like it did the last two quarters.

Per usual, Cult of Mac will be here to live-blog all the action starting at 1:30 p.m. (That’s when the earnings report typically lands.) Come join the fun!

Apple Music ad turns DJ Khaled’s toddler son into a star

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DJ Khaled
DJ Khaled and his son Assad starred in an Apple Music ad last year.
Photo: Apple/YouTube

Apple and DJ Khaled made a commercial of true cross-promotion genius. Khaled gets to plug his latest single No Brainer by plugging Apple Music. Siri, HomePod and iPhone X also each get a turn to shine.

But stealing the minute-and-half show was Khaled’s toddler son, Asahd, who, with help from the voice of comedian Kevin Hart, is caught with an iPhone X in a highchair nagging his attorney to aggressively negotiate for more money.

Spotify picks up 8 million subscribers by copying Apple Music

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Spotify app now playing screen
Spotify and Siri are finally a team.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

When Apple Music made its debut, one of the biggest reasons to switch from rival streaming services was for its $15 family plan. But it wasn’t long before Spotify copied it — and it’s been paying off in a big way.

The bargain family plan helped Spotify attract another 8 million paying subscribers during the second quarter of 2018, taking its total number to 83 million worldwide.

HomePod update will bring phone calls, voicemail, multiple timers

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HomePod market share
The new HomePod could offer a neat new feature.
Photo: Apple

HomePod is expected to get even smarter this fall when Apple rolls out a big software update.

A new report claims the $349 device will be able to handle phone calls, retrieve your voicemail, and run multiple timers. It could also give you the ability to search for songs by using their lyrics, and to translate languages.

Ed Sheeran’s creative process is on full display in new Apple documentary

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434F113A-118B-49B3-8D02-DFFB3C4CCFBF
Ed Sheeran shows viewers how to write a song in his new movie.
Photo: Apple Music

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and his creative process will be on full display in Apple’s newest documentary movie, Songwriter.

Filming on the documentary began in 2008, giving fans an unprecedented look at how Sheeran’s songs are created. From the spark of an idea for a song to seeing it sung by thousands of fans at concerts, Songwriter paints an intimate portrait of one of the most popular artists of the last decade. The movie was filmed by Ed’s cousin Murray Cummings and focuses on the making of his third album “÷” that came out last year.

Take a look at the teaser:

Spotify now lets artists submit unreleased music for playlist consideration

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Spotify discover weekly, daily mix, playlists, and sharing features
Daily mixes, hundreds of playlists, discovery weekly, and social features make Spotify the best streaming music app.
Screenshots: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Music artists are getting an all-new way to promote unreleased music thanks to a new feature Spotify is rolling out his week.

Getting a song onto one of Spotify’s curated playlists can give a big boost to an artist or band’s visibility on the platform. So starting today, members with a Spotify for Artists account can submit unreleased music directly to Spotify’s editorial team for playlist consideration.

Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke is up for an Emmy

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Carpool Karaoke
The star-studded series seems to have done well for Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke spinoff has been nominated for an Emmy in the “Shortform Variety” category.

It will compete with digital shorts made by the likes of The Daily Show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The awards will be part of the Creative Arts Emmys handed out on September 8 and 9. It looks like Apple’s original content efforts are headed in the right direction!

Apple-owned magazine subscription service simplifies its fees

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Texture will stop working on Windows soon
Texture is dropping $5 off its Premium tier.
Photo: Apple

Texture, the digital magazine subscription service Apple acquired back in March, is simplifying its fee structure. Previously, Texture offered a $9.99 Unlimited Basic Plan and a $14.99 Unlimited Premium Plan, with the difference between the two being the addition of weekly magazines.

Now Texture has lowered the price for the Premium Plan to $9.99. In essence, this means that all customers should now have access to the widest possible range of publications for just ten bucks a month!

Apple Music now boasts more subscribers than Spotify in the U.S.

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Apple Music gift card
You won’t believe how cheap Apple Music is in India.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music now boasts more paying subscribers that Spotify in the United States.

Both services have more than 20 million subscribers, but Apple Music is finally “a hair ahead” after creeping up on Spotify for months, according to a new report. Apple’s service is expected to widen the gap in the coming months as it continues to enjoy a faster growth rate than its biggest rival.

Drake’s new album shatters every Apple Music record

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Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
ChampagnePapi is the king of Apple Music.
Photo: Apple

Drake’s new album Scorpion may not have been well received by all his fans, but that hasn’t stopped it from destroying pretty much every record on Apple Music.

Scorption launched last Friday and quickly became the fastest growing album ever on Apple Music’s chart. Its rise was so meteoric that it became the number one album in 92 different countries almost instantaneously. And Apple didn’t even spam promotions for it like Spotify did.

Apple could combine music, TV and magazines into one subscription package

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What’s it like to have your startup bought by Apple? Stressful
An Apple Prime service would be a money-printing machine.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple still hasn’t revealed exactly how it plans to make its original video content available to customers.

However, a new report suggests that Apple may take a page out of Amazon’s playbook by launching a single Amazon Prime-style subscription package, compiling Apple Music, a magazine subscription service, and its original TV shows into one.

Original content could rake in billions for Apple

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money
Original content could turn out to be a big money spinner for Apple.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In three years’ time, Apple could bring in an extra $10 to $12 billion in annual revenue through its original video content and Apple Music, analyst Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets argued in a note to clients this week.

In terms of Apple’s share price, that would add up to 75 cents to the company’s earnings per share.

How to control your HomePod’s up-next queue from your iPhone

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The HomePod -- a beautiful body with the brain of an idiot.
Apple wants to make a bigger mark on your home.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Siri on HomePod is acceptable for quickly playing an album or a playlist, or even for adding a track to the existing up-next queue. But what if you want to switch the order of some songs in that queue, or delete tracks? Or maybe just use your iPhone to skip tracks, or control the volume of your HomePod without having to talk to the damn thing all the time?

Today we shall find out how.

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.

Apple Music hires another hip-hop expert from the BBC

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Screenshot shows Beats 1 radio on Apple Music on an iPhone.
Ryan Newman was formerly editor of 1Xtra, the BBC's main hip-hop and grime radio station.
Photo: Apple

Apple recently hired Ryan Newman, a key player from the BBC’s main hip-hop and grime radio station, 1Xtra.

It’s not clear exactly what role Newman will perform at Apple Music. However, he was one of the brains behind shaping and implementing 1Xtra’s musical direction. He could perform a similar job at Apple.

Apple Music adds new ‘Coming Soon’ section

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Apple Music
Apple Music was mysteriously absent from the WWDC 2018 keynote.
Photo: Apple

Staying on top of your favorite bands’ new albums just got a little bit easier, thanks to an Apple Music update that adds a “Coming Soon” section to the iOS app.

Apple began rolling out the new feature, which showcases new music expected to be released in the coming weeks, to Apple Music users today. Here’s where to find it – and how to use it.

Apple Music gets a web player ahead of WWDC

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Apple Music on the web
Apple Music comes to your browser.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Improvements to Apple Music could be showcased at WWDC later today — but one new feature has slipped out early. A new web player gives Apple Music fans the ability to sample and enjoy full tracks in their browsers.

Kanye West’s new album will be available on Apple Music later today

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Kanye
Last time he had an exclusive deal with Tidal.
Photo: Justjared

Kanye West’s album is launching today — and unlike 2016’s The Life of Pablo this one will be available from Apple Music and other platforms right away.

Given the trouble that Tidal, which had early exclusive rights to TLoP, is reportedly in, that’s not a huge surprise…

Apple now has it own Global Music Publishing division

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Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Apple wants to build better relations between itself and artists.
Photo: Drake

Apple is launching a new music publishing division, headed up respected industry executive Elena Segal.

The newly created Global Director of Music Publishing role will involve working in both the United States and London. Creating the post was apparently one of the first moves made by Oliver Shusser, who recently took over as head of Apple Music.

New YouTube Music streaming service goes live this month

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YouTube Music
YouTube will take on Apple Music (again).
Photo: Google

YouTube Music, a new service that will take on the likes of Spotify and Apple, goes live next week.

Listeners will be able to enjoy the service for free if they don’t mind their music interspersed with advertisements. An upgrade to YouTube Music Premium, priced at $9.99 a month, will remove those ads and allow for background playback and music downloads.

Fast-growing Apple Music has a massive 50 million active users

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Apple Music
Apple Music has passed another benchmark.
Photo: Photo:

Apple Music has passed the 50 million active user mark, just one month after it passed the 40 million user landmark.

Tim Cook shared the news during an interview with Bloomberg Television, during which he also talked about Apple’s original content push and his recent meeting with President Donald Trump.