Apple Music - page 8

Feeling like you missed out on proper summer vibes this year due to coronavirus, and it’s now too late to dream of soaking up some beach rays? Apple Music feels your pain, and has some appropriately party playlists to take you back to the 2020 summer vacation that never was. Including one by everyone’s favorite Luther star.

New playlists added to Apple Music include DJ sets from independent dance label Defected Records. One is from recent Glitterbox Virtual Festival and includes the likes of Idris Elba (yes, he DJs as well as acts), Jellybean Benitez, and Boys Noize. The other includes sets from Ibiza in 2019, featuring Roger Sanchez, Gorgon City, Sam Divine.

The Apple One subscription bundle service promises to make your monthly Apple subs easier by rolling them into a simple, one-off payment. But what if your existing subscriptions, such as Apple Music and iCloud accounts, are tied to different Apple IDs?

Fortunately, Apple’s longest-serving employee, Chris Espinosa, says that poses no problem. “It manages that,” he wrote in response to a question on Twitter. “I just double-checked.”

Apple One, which bundles several of the company’s vaunted services together, is a genius move. At best, it saves you money. At worst, it looks like it does.

I think it’s going to be a massive hit for Apple, and will provide a much-needed boost for struggling services like Apple News+ and Apple Arcade. However, it might cause some big headaches in Cupertino, too.

A rumor that Apple plans to offer discounts on bundles with iCloud, Apple Arcade and other services may have been confirmed Thursday. Mentions of the “Apple One” subscription bundle reportedly turned up in the code for Apple Music for Android.

U.K. carrier EE today introduced a new cellular plan that gives iPhone users full access to some of Apple’s best subscription services.

Full Works includes Apple Arcade, Apple Music, and Apple TV+ for the length of your contract. It also offers unlimited data, the option to upgrade your handset at anytime, and 5G connectivity.

EE says it’s the first time a carrier has struck this kind of deal with Apple.

Porsche’s forthcoming electric Taycan will offer three years of free Apple Music streaming. No tethered or wireless iPhone connection needed.

The system will rely on its own in-car dash. Drivers and passengers can use a touch screen and custom Porsche AI voice assistant to select albums, songs, or radio stations. Streaming data costs included.

Apple is rebranding Beats 1 as Apple Music 1, while also launching two new radio stations, the company said Tuesday. Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country will both feature their own exclusive radio shows.

Both new stations launch today, along with the renaming of Beats 1 as Apple Music 1.

Apple is preparing a series of bundles that would group together its services at a lower monthly cost than buying them separately, Bloomberg claims.

The bundles are reportedly being referred to under the name Apple One. They could launch as soon as October, alongside the new iPhones.

The song “Radio Ga-Ga” gave Lady Gaga her stage name, and now, years later, she has her own radio show. And it’s debuting this week on Apple Music.

Gaga Radio will premiere at 11 a.m. Pacific on Friday, and run every Friday for the whole of August. In a tweet announcing the new show, Gaga invited listeners to hear her and her Chromatica collaborators “talk about the inspirations, making the record & more!”

Spotify’s Q2 earnings showed largely positive growth, although the streaming music giant suffered a 21% decline in ad revenue and a 48% rise in operating costs due to deals like its $100 million licensing deal for The Joe Rogan Experience.

Total monthly active users on the platform grew to 299 million, while paid subscribers increased to 138 million. Apple Music, which does not operate a free listening tier (outside of Beats 1 radio), last reported 60 million paid subscribers in June 2019 when it had passed 60 million.

In the internet age, we get our music from all kinds of places. A song might be on YouTube but not on Spotify, or maybe you can’t remember whether you bought it on Apple Music or Tidal.

Luckily, there’s a way to cut through the digital musical chaos. This app connects all your streaming services, so you can get the music you want anywhere, any time.

Music battle series Verzuz, in which two artists or producers take each other on by playing their hits, is coming to Apple Music and Beats 1.

The first session, pitting hip-hop legends Snoop Dogg against DMX, will air Wednesday, July 22 at 5pm PT/8pm ET. Considering how popular the series has been on Instagram Live, this could be a major coup for Apple.

Bozoma Saint John, the former head of global consumer marketing for Apple Music, is joining Netflix as its new Chief Marketing Officer, Deadline reports.

Saint John joined Apple with the Beats acquisition in 2014. She left Apple in 2017 to join Uber as its Chief Brand Officer, before jumping to Endeavor to become its CMO.

Apple is running another awesome promotion that offers shoppers free money when they top up their Apple ID. Simply add funds to your account before July 10 and you’ll get 10% extra. Here’s how.

Apple seemingly hasn’t abandoned its possible plans for an “Apple Prime” service that combines all its subscriptions into one single package. In a report published late Wednesday, 9to5Mac discovered references in the iOS 13.5.5 beta code to a “bundle offer” and “bundle subscription” that didn’t previously exist.

The idea could be to offer a services bundle combination of Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple TV+ and, potentially, Apple Arcade, at a lower price than buying each individually. Whether it happens, of course, is another matter entirely.

Apple Music has joined Blackout Tuesday, a music-industry-wide initiative seeking to raise support for Black Lives Matter following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death, captured on camera by onlookers, sparked protests and riots across the United States.

Doing its part for the day, Apple Music canceled its Beats 1 radio service on June 2. The service also changed its “For You” tab. Both redirect to a “For Us, By Us” stream playing music by black artists. A regular voiceover says that it is designed to “stand in solidarity with black communities everywhere.”

Amazon is helping us all say entertained during COVID-19 lockdowns with generous savings on its own Fire TV devices. You can pick up a Fire TV Stick for as little as $29.99, and Fire Edition TV sets from just $139.99.

All Fire TV devices now support Apple TV+ — as well as a host of other streaming services, including Netflix and Disney+. These are limited-time savings, so enjoy them before they disappear.

American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish is continuing her connection with Apple Music listeners with the release of a new radio show featuring she and her father, Patrick O’Connell.

Her new show, me & dad radio, will debut Friday on Apple Music at noon Pacific time with six episodes planned.

Spotify has 163 million free, ad-supported users, and an impressive 130 million paid subscribers, the streaming music giant announced Wednesday in its financial earnings for Q1 2020. These premium subscribers are up 6 million from the end of the previous quarter, and 30 million year-on-year.

While Apple hasn’t released updated Apple Music subscriber figures for a while now, it last announced 60 million paying customers last summer. Although Apple Music has reportedly experienced a nice bump while people are stuck home during lockdown, that suggests that Spotify is still enjoying a comfortable lead in the streaming war.

Hip hop luminary Lil Wayne, one of the most well-known and respected rappers of the 21st century, is headed to Apple Music!

No, Lil Wayne (or Weezy F. Baby as the kids call him) isn’t debuting an exclusive new album on Apple’s streaming music service. Instead, he’ll be playing host on Young Money Radio, a new show debuting on Beats 1 Friday, April 24 at 7pm EST/4pm PT.

If your music career or business would be boosted by meeting with someone high up at Apple Music, then this is your lucky day. Three high-level executives at Apple’s music streaming service are auctioning off private meetings.

Proceeds from these auctions go to the Pablove Foundation, which invests in pediatric cancer research.

Apple announced Tuesday that it is launching a whole host of its services in dozens more countries around the world.

Starting today, the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud are available in 20 additional countries. Apple Music, meanwhile, has picked up an additional 52 (!) international markets.

The head of Apple Music is apparently assuming an additional role. Oliver Schusser is reportedly going to take charge of the company’s Beats line of high-end headphones, while also remaining at the helm of Apple’s music-streaming service.

Apple also took the opportunity to refute a recent unconfirmed report that it’s phasing out Beats.

Having been in beta since September, Apple Music’s web app is finally fully up and running for all users.

The web app, found at music.apple.com site (no longer with the “beta” prefix), lets users listen to Apple Music content without using the dedicated app.

The coronavirus-induced lockdown is affecting huge parts of the service economy. However, one area it doesn’t seem to be negatively impacting in the U.S. is the streaming music market.

According to a report from Music Business Weekly, published Monday, streaming music service subscriptions are not only not slowing down right now; in some cases they’re actually increasing.