Google is hoping to distract you from Apple Music’s impending launch with a new streaming plan that won’t cost you a penny. Available on desktop and mobile platforms, the service lets you enjoy a whole host of curated playlists supported by ads.
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has had some issues with music platforms in the past, but when it comes to Apple Music, he’s completely on board.
The outspoken musician spoke at creativity festival Cannes Lions and declared his complete approval of how Apple is handling its upcoming streaming service.
Billy Corgan is an outspoken guy. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman turned semi-pro wrestler is known to speak out when he’s got an opinion, especially about politics. And he’s none too happy about what Apple’s been doing with Apple Music.
From the suggestion that the Earth is actually hollow to accusations that Jay Z and Beyonce are the world’s most famous Illuminati members, the Internet is nothing if not great for spreading crazy conspiracy theories.
In the wake of the recent Apple/Taylor Swift confrontation over Apple Music, there’s another one to add to the list: That the whole thing was staged to promote Apple’s new streaming music service.
And based on the number of times it’s already being mentioned, a surprising number of people believe it.
Taylor Swift is a shrewd business woman and thought she was speaking for all the little artists when she told Apple to kiss off when it comes to featuring her album 1989 on its new music streaming service.
To not pay artists during Apple Music’s free three-month trial period is exploitive, the singer-songwriter suggested, not to mention “shocking” and “disappointing.”
So forgive music photographer Jason Sheldon if he is unable to Shake It Off and is bothered by the hypocrisy of her stance. Editorial photographers assigned to shoot her shows must sign away rights to their photos, preventing them from being paid while giving Swift unlimited use of the pictures for publicity and promotion.
Taylor Swift may have announced she was shaking off Apple Music last week, but today she published an open letter to Apple explaining in more detail why her hit “1989” album won’t be joining the other 30 million songs available on Apple’s streaming music service when it launches.
“I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service,” Swift writes. “I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”
An Apple spokesperson claims that the company will not remove artists who decline to sign up for Apple Music from the iTunes Store.
This is the latest development in the tense negotiations leading up to the streaming service’s launch on June 30, with indie musicians and labels claiming that Apple is trying to bully and coerce them into putting their music on the new platform.
Apple Music will boast over 30 million songs when it launches at the end of June, but Taylor Swift has decided to leave a blank space where her 1989 album would’ve been.
The announcement of Apple Music last week was certain to stir up a bit of controversy, and sure enough some corners of the music industry are starting to speak out against the (arguably harsh) terms Apple’s dictated.
Among them is the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR), which represents independent labels in Oz. Their beef with Apple? Dissatisfaction at the company’s three-month trial period for users, during which Apple will pay out no royalties to artists since it won’t be making any money itself.
“Having now had over a week to reflect on the launch of Apple Music, AIR is not satisfied that the deal being offered under this new initiative is fair or equitable to independent music companies,” a statement from the organization reads.
GarageBand for Mac is getting a sonic upgrade with 10 new drum settings and 100 new synth sounds designed for electronic dance music and hip-hop tracks.
The new features are coming June 30 — just in time for the launch of Apple Music.
When Apple Music launches at the end of June you won’t have to pay a cent to listen to all the music your ears can hear for the first three months. If you want to keep using Apple Music after the three month trial period though you’ll have to fork over $10 a month, and according to a new report it’s paying out more to the record labels than Spotify.
Not everybody has two-and-a-half hours to watch an Apple event. Tim Cook and crew delivered tons of updates at the kickoff for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, and you can speed through all the news with this WWDC 2015 keynote supercut.
It’s just two-and-a-half minutes long!
Why is Leander super-excited about Apple’s new Beats 1 radio service?
It’s simple, really: For him, listening to BBC Radio 1 was possibly the greatest thing about growing up in England in the ’70s. More importantly, it’s still how he discovers loads of new music today — and Apple’s 24/7 live internet radio station promises that same kind of magic.
Get the lowdown in the latest Kahney’s Korner video.
Developers have been busy combing through the first iOS 9 beta for clues about upcoming Apple services, but in the lastest iOS 8.4 beta that was also seeded to developers earlier this week, the first signs of the Apple Music streaming service have started popping up (literally).
Some iOS 8.4 beta testers have received pop-up notifications in the old Music app. The introductory prompts reveal how Apple plans to get iOS users to sign up for the new service, either on an individual plan or family plan.
Here’s signup screen users will be greeted by:
Apple Music may come with a long list of advantages over rivals like Spotify — such as real radio and a super-affordable family plan — but there’s one thing it’s lagging behind on, and that’s music quality… or so it seems.
The highest bitrate Apple Music will offer is 256 kbps, which is lower than the 320 kbps offered by Spotify, Rdio, Tidal, and Apple’s own Beats Music service.
During Monday’s introduction of Apple Music at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple said “over 100 countries” will have access to its music-streaming/social/radio platform when it launches June 30. But it didn’t say which countries those would be.
We’ve done some investigating, and we’re pretty sure we’ve got a good idea of who’s definitely getting their dance on. Check out our map below.
Apple’s two-hours-plus keynote at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week was packed with new and exciting information about the future of software for its current major hardware. But we couldn’t help but notice some things that were missing.
Here are some of the ways Apple’s presentation left us hanging this year.
Steve Jobs hated Android so much he once said Apple would never make an iTunes app for Android because he didn’t want to do anything that would make Android users happy. At yesterday’s WWDC keynote, Tim Cook sang a different tune by announcing Apple Music would be available on Android too. What he didn’t say was everyone with an Android phone is going to have to pay. Even for the free features.
By Brandon Shaw
Dear Apple,
I wanted to love Apple Music, I really did. It had all the potential in the world, and with all the hype surrounding the WWDC keynote, I watched with cautious optimism. Ultimately, though, I was disappointed. Here’s why.
Every other year Apple releases an “S” version of the iPhone. Later this year, we’ll see the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The “S” models generally deliver modest improvements — better cameras, better networking, faster chips. But the basic design remains the same. The “S” suffix means the same, but better.
And so it goes with this Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. In terms of announcements of import, WWDC 2015’s kickoff was an “S” upgrade. It built on the spectacular announcements of last year, but didn’t break huge new ground.
And that’s OK. “S” upgrades are often underrated.
Apple Music may be a streaming service, but you won’t always need an Internet connection to enjoy it. Apple has confirmed that you’ll also be able to download songs for offline listening, so you can enjoy albums and playlists when you’re on the road without data.
Apple Music could be the best music service for mobile devices ever created if it lives up to the hype Eddy Cue danced into it during today’s keynote, but it won’t play nice with Internet connected speaker systems like Sonos.
Sonos speaker lovers won’t be able to jam out on their favorite tunes through Apple Music, the company revealed in a statement today. While Sonos has been a supporter of Beats Music since 2014, the company confirmed says Apple’s not ready to focus on home listening yet:
Apple’s big idea for transforming the way we experience music is bringing a personal touch — and a simple, unified platform — to the tangled technological mess that music’s become in 2015. Apple Music is classic Apple: putting a human face on technology that threatens to overwhelm us.
Tim Cook brought out high-profile artists, and Apple’s team of industry insiders, to show off what he called “the next chapter in music” today at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
“I know your are going to love it,” Cook said, introducing Apple Music. “It will change the way that you experience music forever.”
Here’s what Apple Music will bring to your ears.
Apple put on one of its biggest shows ever for WWDC this year. Not only did the conference kick off with a hilarious video starring Bill Hader, Matt Walsh, Danny Pudi and others, but they also had a series of great short videos to promote some of the company’s new products.
The new ‘History of Music’ clip might have been my favorite new video from Apple today. It showed not just how the iPod and iTunes changed music, but also tossed in nods to vinyl records, radio, and the days of burning one mixtape after another onto CD. We’re still waiting for Apple to upload its star studded videos to YouTube, however you can get a look at the company’s ‘History of Music’ video right now.
Watch it below:
During the part of the WWDC keynote where cool is most required, the Apple Music rollout, Eddy Cue took the stage in an untucked, salmon-colored shirt and proceeded to dance. Twitter gasped, laughed and even threw up a little as Cue extolled a new service that is supposed to be hip enough make us all dump Spotify.
Twitter followers streaming the Worldwide Developers Conference, already grumpy about the drawn-out opening, were tired and hungry when Cue and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine took their turn onstage. Some feasted on Cue’s appearance.
“Eddy Cue is one undone shirt button away from getting kicked out of Margaritaville,” wrote Jessica Misener. “Eddy Cue is like everyone’s dad at a wedding, but if everyone’s dad at a wedding was 10X more excruciating,” wrote Guardian Tech.