Jimmy Iovine wants people to pay for music again and he’s got a plan that just might work: make free music streaming suck.
The Apple exec and music industry legend sat down for a new wide-ranging interview, during which Iovine lamanted that artists aren’t getting paid enough for their music anymore. And it’s mostly Spotify and YouTube’s fault.
Apple Music may soon get exclusive streaming rights to an unreleased Prince concert that was performed as a surprise in Minneapolis just before the release of his iconic Purple Rain soundtrack.
If Apple does land the rights, the company may owe a big ‘thank you’ to its rival Spotify, which employs the executive negotiating the deal.
Snap Inc apparently wants in on the hottest new trend among tech companies: TV shows.
Following the lead of Amazon and Twitter, Snapchat reportedly plans to start showing vertical short films in its app. Only instead of doing all the work on its own, the company is inking deals with some of the biggest names in media.
Apple’s Q2 earnings report for 2017 just barely beat Wall Street’s expectations when the numbers were revealed this afternoon, but there are plenty of reasons to still be optimistic about AAPL.
During the company’s call with investors today, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri discussed some of the struggles the company experienced last quarter, from slumping iPhone sales to economic headwinds in China.
Here are the biggest takeaways:
Apple is set to reveal its second quarterly earnings report of 2017 this afternoon. And according to analysts, the numbers won’t be nearly as impressive as last quarter’s record-shattering results.
Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri will run through all the numbers with investors today at 2 p.m. Pacific. As usual, Cult of Mac will be liveblogging the action with all the analysis and snark we can muster.
Come join the fun:
Apple is set to reveal its second quarterly earnings report of 2017 next Tuesday, and based on early estimates from analysts, Tim Cook might not have much to boast about.
Wall Street has been in love with Apple stock the last few months, sending it to all-time highs since the last earnings report came out. But with the holiday shopping season over and a lack of new products to boost sales, Apple’s numbers may look a bit flat.
These are the key areas to watch for:
Update: Musical.ly’s partner 7digital denies that it is being replaced by Apple Music, with CEO Simon Cole saying it “just signed a renewal agreement with Musical.ly” and has “in no way ended our working relationship.”
Apple has reportedly teamed up with Musical.ly, a popular music-themed app for video creation, messaging and live broadcasting.
Starting today, Apple Music will be the service that supplies songs for the social network app, replacing joining existing provider 7digital.
Apple Music is set to premiere an all-new exclusive documentary this summer and this go around it will be all about hip-hop legend and business mogul Sean P. Combs (aka. Puff Daddy, aka P. Diddy).
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story will make its official debut exclusively on Apple Music starting June 25. The documentary chronicles Diddy’s rise to become one of the most prolific producers in the mid-90s as well as the trouble he faced putting together last year’s 20th anniversary Bad Boy reunion show.
iOS 11 will deliver a new Music app with a focus on original videos, according to Jimmy Iovine. The Apple Music chief says the service could add many as 10 original video series by the end of this year, including Carpool Karaoke and will.i.am’s Planet of the Apps, while Apple is also in talks to secure content from J.J. Abrams and R. Kelly.
The first original TV series created by Apple won’t be out this spring as previously promised.
Apple revealed today that its Carpool Karaoke show has hit some speed bumps. The show is being created as an adaptation from James Cordon’s popular segment, but you’ll have to wait until later this year to watch it.
Apple’s biggest competition in the music streaming business may be preparing to become a hardware rival, too.
Jobs listings posted by Spotify indicate the company is planning to make a hardware play. Spotify says it’s working on a “category defining product,” but based on what the company compares it to, Apple might not have much to worry about.
Apple has decided to lower the amount of money it pays affiliate who funnel customers to buy apps and in-app purchases from the iOS App Store.
In an email update sent out today to members of its affiliates program, Apple says its cutting commission rates by more than half, leaving companies and websites with less money from what can be a valuable revenue stream.
Apple bought new music documentary Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, revealing the acquisition prior to the film’s opening night screening at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The documentary is based on the best-selling autobiography by Davis, the legendary music exec who played a key role developing artists from the 1960s through the rise of hip-hop.
Facebook is aiming to make its Messenger app the go-to spot to talk about music with a new update that makes it easier to share songs with friends.
During the company’s F8 developers conference this morning, Facebook unveiled a new way for third-party apps to integrate with communications platform. And Apple Music is one of its first partners.
Pandora’s fight back against Apple Music officially begins today, with Pandora Premium, the on-demand streaming service, now available to all.
Priced at $9.99 a month, the subscription grants access to millions of tracks and albums that you can listen to ad-free, as often as you like. It also boasts a couple of neat features you won’t find elsewhere.
One of Canada’s most famous music interviewers, George Stroumboulopoulos, is coming to Apple Music where he’ll host concerts featuring some of the biggest names in the industry.
Unlike the large-scale Apple Music Festival concerts hosted every year, Stroumboulopoulos (aka Strombo), will be hosting the acts at his tiny house in Toronto, giving fans an intimate concert experience unlike any other.
The iTunes brand is being slowly carted off to the Apple graveyard.
On Thursday morning, Apple made a very subtle but profound change to the way it markets podcasts. From now on, they’re no longer called “iTunes Podcasts” — they’re called “Apple Podcasts.”
Tidal owner Jay Z has decided to pull all of his albums from rival streaming services Apple Music in an apparent effort to woo over new subscribers, or increase piracy of his music.
India is one of the next big markets for tech companies, and Google just threw down the gauntlet against Apple by undercutting Apple Music with its own Google Play music subscription service.
While Apple Music charges 120 rupees per month (around $2), Google is charging just 99 rupees ($1.50) for tis own service — with a discounted rate of 89 rupees for the first 45 days. In the U.S., both Google Play Music and Apple Music charge $9.99 per month.
Apple Music subscribers on Android got some much-needed love from Apple today in the form of an update that brings a fresh UI to the streaming app.
It’s been nearly a year since Apple unveiled its Apple Music redesign as part of iOS 10 at WWDC 2016, but Android users are just now getting a taste of the interface’s bold, streamlined look.
Cupertino might not consider Apple TV a “hobby” any longer, but according to new data from comScore, the streaming device certainly is not viewed as a serious contender in the marketplace.
ComScore’s new figures show that — at the end of 2016 — Roku led the way for streaming TV boxes/sticks in the United States, with 18 percent penetration among Wi-Fi households. Amazon’s Fire TV followed on its heels with 12 percent, while Google’s Chromecast came third with 8 percent. Apple TV trailed in fourth place with just 5 percent.
In another sign that Apple is gearing up to make a big push into video, the company has hired former YouTube executive Shiva Rajaraman.
The hire comes as Apple is beginning to launch its own efforts to create original video content for Apple Music subscribers, but the addition of Rajaraman could mean Apple is looking to explore other avenues for its video content too.
The race to create the hottest karaoke show in the U.S. is heating up now that Spotify has revealed it is making a TV show that will feature artists performing while rolling through Los Angeles traffic.
Spotify is calling the show Traffic Jams. And while it has a lot in common with Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke, Spotify hopes some key difference will set its show apart.
Beats 1 is the “biggest radio station in the world,” claims Apple Music’s head of content Larry Jackson.
“There’s no way you’re going to find another station that has as many concurrent listeners and audience-wise as Beats 1, period,” Jackson said in a new interview with various Apple Music execs.
Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe says that Apple is “working on” new Beats radio stations, although won’t introduce them until, “they feel it’s right.”
While Lowe doesn’t provide more details, it’s one of the few things he addresses directly in an interview during which he sidesteps plenty of other questions — suggesting it’s something that Apple’s happy to be talked about to some extent.
