Apple Music - page 10

Spotify now matches Apple Music’s 3-month free trial

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

Spotify is now matching Apple Music’s generous three-month free trial for new subscribers.

The offer is available to eligible individual and student users who sign up for any Spotify Premium plan, starting today. It will be extended to support Duo and Family Plans in the coming months.

TV drama will show how Spotify ‘beat Apple’

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Spotify is adding 2x as many monthly subscribers as Apple Music
The battle for our ears. And listening dollars.
Photo: Spotify

Streaming giant Spotify’s history shows a company that rose from nothing to take on Apple — and won. Well, kind of. At least, that’s the story that may be told in a new screen adaptation of Spotify’s rise to prominence.

While it’s not yet in production, the UK division of Swedish film and TV company Yellow Bird (the company behind the Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) just acquired the adaptation rights to the recent book Spotify Untold.

Think of it as The Social Network, only about the world of streaming music.

Porsche’s debut all-electric car will be the first with built-in Apple Music

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Porsche Taycan Apple deal
Coming soon to a Porsche near you. Well, so long as long as you live near a dealership or some very rich people.
Photo: Porsche

Porsche and Apple have brokered a deal to allow the new electric Porsche Taycan can stream Apple Music directly in-car.

“It’s about innovation,” said Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America. “…It’s about brand values that we share. And that’s why we were really excited when the project started.”

Apple Music playlist transports you to the hottest Ibiza clubs

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Ibiza club
Drinks are a whole lot cheaper, though.
Photo: XXNU/Flickr CC

Apple Music boasts some 50 million songs in its catalog. That’s the equivalent of almost two miles if it was a heap of CD-based albums piled on on top of the other.

To help make sense of all of this, Apple hosts a wide variety of hand-selected playlists. Now, thanks to two of the hottest clubs in EDM capital Ibiza, they’ve gotten some more. It’s like a vacation in your pocket!

Spotify might finally get Siri support with iOS 13

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Spotify Premium update October 2018
Apple and Spotify might declare a truce.
Photo: Spotify

Apple might be ready to agree to a truce with Spotify that would allow iOS users to control the rival music streaming service with Siri.

iPhone users have been unable to use Siri and Spotify together even though you can do it with Apple Music. Reports of the negotiations come as Apple is facing more intense scrutiny for anti-trust practices, with Spotify being one of the loudest dissenting voices.

Troubleshoot Apple Music with Smart Playlists

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Cassette tapes
In the olden days, playlists were stored on tapes.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Think about your music library for a second. Which of the songs in your library come from Apple Music? Which ones did you add to the library yourself? And which ones have you added to iTunes Match, but haven’t actually made it to your iCloud library yet?

These things are a little confusing. The beauty of Apple Music, and the iCloud Music Library, is that all of your music is there, in one place. But this simplicity also makes it hard to see what’s going on. Happily, iTunes is still more than up to the task, and can even split these songs into individual playlists. Let’s check it out.

How to repeat and shuffle songs in iOS 13

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Shuffling songs used to be easy. Here's how to shuffle songs in Apple Music in iOS 13.
Shuffling songs used to be easy.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

This may seem like a frivolous how-to. But seeing as I couldn’t work out how to switch off shuffle Apple Music tracks on my iPhone in iOS 12, I think it’s worth a look — if only so dummies like me can look it up.

BTW, you can find the Apple Music repeat and shuffle controls in iOS 12 by swiping up on the Now Playing panel to reveal the buttons at the bottom, if you need to know.

So, let’s take a look at how Apple changed things in the iOS 13 Music app.

Apple Music showcases its massive high-def library

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Apple Music and Drake
Let's hear it for high-res Drake tracks.
Photo: Apple

Music producers will bring sweeter sounds to the discriminating Apple Music user thanks to a new digital masters initiative for Apple’s burgeoning streaming service.

As Apple phases out iTunes with the launch of a new macOS, it will fold in all Mastered for iTunes tracks and high-definition Apple Music songs into one catalog.

AT&T gives free Spotify Premium to unlimited subscribers

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Spotify discover weekly, daily mix, playlists, and sharing features
This should help Spotify grow its subscriber base.
Photo: Ian Fuchs

AT&T is ready to sweeten the deal for some of its monthly subscribers by offering free Spotify premium as of its new entertainment perks.

The carrier revealed its new entertainment perks today that also gives customers the option to choose HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz or Pandora as their free entertainment options. Even if you don’t have a qualifying wireless plan, you can still get some other Spotify perks.

Remix Billie Eilish in newest Today at Apple session

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billieelish
Billie Elish's Lab is available in Apple stores.
Photo: Apple

Move over Madonna. Apple is bringing in pop teen sensation Billie Eilish for the second session of its Remix Music lab.

Eilish, whose song “Bad Boy” has been tearing up the music charts all summer. Now you’ll be able to visit an Apple store to learn about her song “You Should See Me in a Crown” and learn how to remix it.

Spotify has 48 million more paying subscribers than Apple Music

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Spotify app now playing screen
Spotify is still leading the way among streaming music services.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

In its latest quarterly earnings, Spotify has revealed that it currently has 108 million paying subscribers. That’s approaching 2x the number who subscribe to Apple Music, which is around 60 million at present.

That’s an increase of 31% year-on-year, although it’s slightly below what the streaming music giant had been aiming for.

8 key details from Apple’s upbeat earnings report

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple unleashed its best-ever Q3 earnings report today, and traders subsequently sent the company’s stock soaring in after-hours trading.

Thanks to record-breaking revenue from its services business and strong growth from wearables, Apple is heading into its most important period of the year ready to cash in. Investors had plenty of questions for CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri during today’s call. And the duo revealed some key tidbits we actually weren’t expecting.

New Shot on iPhone ads go behind the scenes with your favorite musicians

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Florence and the Machine
Apple pulled back the curtain in its latest ads.
Photo: Apple

Apple hit the road with some of the most popular bands touring the world for its latest round of ‘Shot on iPhone’ ads.

The new one minute spots offer an intimate look at what goes on backstage before Florence and the Machine, FKA Twigs and Kamasi Washington make their appearances at concerts in Colorado, New York and London. Each of the three ads were shot by a different director giving them a unique feel.

Watch all three right here:

Rockers Tool are finally bringing their music to streaming services

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Tool
Tool performing a headline slot during their "10,000 Days" tour.
Photo: Denuo/Wikipedia CC

Tool, the American rock band which was a staple of alternative music in the 1990s and early 2000s, is finally bringing its back catalog to streaming services.

The exact services the album will be available on haven’t been named. However, it seems incredibly likely that Apple Music — one of the most popular streaming services — will be among them.

5 key things to watch for in Apple’s most boring earnings report of 2019

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Earnings call
Apple's Q1 2020 earnings report will probably break some records.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The most yawn-inducing Apple earnings call of the year is just days away, and Wall Street is eagerly anticipating the results — though maybe for reasons you wouldn’t expect.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are scheduled to hop on the phone with investors at 2 p.m. Pacific next Tuesday for Apple’s Q3 2019 earnings call. Even though Apple doesn’t reveal quarterly sales for iPhones anymore, there are a lot of metrics to look for that could clue us in on how well or poorly the company is performing lately.

Keep an ear out for these five things during Apple’s July 30 earnings call.

Apple Music may reduce free trial to just one month

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A new ad for Apple Music shows a one-month free trial.
Apple's new banner ad.
Photo: Apple

Right from the start, Apple Music offered a three-month trial to new users to try and get them to subscribe. In some cases, this even extended all the way up to a six-month free trial before users would have to pay a dime.

Apple may be shifting away from this strategy, though. A new banner ad on Apple’s website mentions a one-month tryout period for the streaming music service.

DJ Khaled named first-ever ‘Artist in Residence’ for Apple Music

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

Apple Music is letting DJ Khaled take the reigns of its most popular playlists as the company’s first-ever Artist in Residence.

Khaled has already put his stamp on the music streaming service by revamping Apple Music’s popular Office DJ playlist. Some of the new songs added include songs from Drake, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill and more.

Check out DJ Khaled’s funny Instagram post about the new gig:

Apple denies report of App Store search monopoly

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Appstore
You can request them manually if you need to.
Photo: Apple

The Wall Street Journal claims Apple is giving its own apps preferential treatment in the iOS App Store search results. During a wide-ranging test of basic app search terms like “maps”, WSJ discovered that some of Apple’s apps show up first in the rankings 60% of the time. For other terms, the rate was even higher.

CarPlay in iOS 13, the perfect road trip companion [Video]

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CarPlay Dashboard in iOS 13
The new CarPlay Dashboard puts everything you need on your... dashboard.
Photo: Apple

We’ve already extolled our excitement over CarPlay changes coming in iOS 13. But now that the beta season is well underway, we’ve had the chance to go fully hands on.

After taking it on a road trip, using it while commuting, and exploring the new features, this is our hands-on look at CarPlay in iOS 13.

Apple Music rebrands one of its most popular playlists

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Apple Music's focus on hip-hop continues.
Apple Music's focus on hip-hop continues.
Screenshot: Apple

Apple Music has switched the names of one of its most popular playlists. “A-List: Hip-Hop” is now branded as “Rap Life,” and comes with a new show on Beats 1 radio.

The change was orchestrated by Ebro Darden, global editorial head of hip-hop and R&B at Apple Music. “Rap Life” will be promoted as a segment during Darden’s daily show on Beats 1. Apple is also launching a self-contained “Rap Life” show on Beats 1 every week.