iTunes Radio

Apple’s bold plan to convert casual music fans into streaming subscribers

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Apple needs no shelter, thank you.
Apple is hoping to move you from a music collector to a file-streamer.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Imagine clicking iTunes’ “Buy” button to purchase the latest record from Drake or Pharrell Williams, only to get a popup from Apple suggesting you’re behind the times.

That’s what might happen as Apple uses its massive consumer base to push streaming music on the masses, even going so far as prompting iTunes users to switch from buying songs to subscribing to a cloud service.

That sort of mid-purchase upsell is just one possible element of Cupertino’s strategy to shake up the music industry again, and the Apple streaming music plan just might be crazy enough to work.

Apple makes targeted ads possible on iTunes Radio

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Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Apple is beefing up its iAd network for iTunes Radio by making it easy for advertisers to target certain customers. Like iAds for apps, advertisers can also buy their own audio ads without having to go through Apple’s sales team.

The change seems geared towards making advertising on iTunes Radio a more attractive opportunity, especially now that brands can use Customer Match, Apple’s ad-targeting system.

Apple’s on the hunt for music masters who know their pop culture

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Looking for your Almost Famous moment? Try joining Apple as a music journalist. Photo: DreamWorks
Looking for your Almost Famous moment? Try joining Apple as a music journalist. Photo: DreamWorks

iTunes might currently be flagging compared to rivals like Spotify, but it seems that Apple has some big ideas to bolster its music services — and unlike many companies in Silicon Valley, they’re not going to be based solely on better algorithms.

In a new job posting, Apple makes clear that it wants to lead the way when it comes to specialized employees who know their music. In particular, the company is seeking an editorial producer, based in London, with a background in both music journalism and pop culture.

Christmas-themed stations come to iTunes Radio-ho-ho-ho

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Brush up on your Christmas carols ahead of the holidays, thanks to iTunes Radio. Photo: Mike Renland/Flickr
Brush up on your Christmas carols ahead of the holidays, thanks to iTunes Radio. Photo: Mike Renland/Flickr

Christmas is still a few weeks away, but Apple is getting into the holiday spirit by activating a number of its festive-themed curated iTunes Radio stations — ranging from collections of country Christmas songs, to stations featuring the kind of Christmas standards we all know and love.

The ten stations include Children’s Christmas Holiday Sing-Along, Country Holiday, Classical Holiday, Holiday Classics, Holiday Hits, Latin Holiday, Rockin’ Holiday, Soulful Holiday, Swingin’ Holiday and The Sounds of Christmas.

U2 and Apple crank marketing debacle up to 11

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Apple delivers U2's Songs of Innocence to millions of iTunes users, but not everybody's buying the hype. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
Apple delivers U2's Songs of Innocence to millions of iTunes users, but not everybody's buying the hype. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

Thousands of angry iPhone users have found an album they weren’t looking for: U2’s Songs of Innocence.

Instead of making the band’s mediocre new album an opt-in freebie, Apple jammed it down the throats of a half-billion iTunes Store customers, enraging some of the company’s most loyal fans. Whether they wanted the album or not, it’s now showing up as “purchased” in individuals’ iTunes libraries on their computers and phones.

When Tim Cook trotted out the Irish rockers for a limp finale to Tuesday’s big Apple Watch announcement, he called giving away the band’s new record “the largest album release of all time” — but now it looks like one of the dumbest.

iTunes Radio adds ESPN and local NPR stations

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Sports fans are finally getting more love from the nerds at the mothership, just in time for the World Cup.

Starting today, iTunes Radio users will be able to stream live broadcasts of ESPN’s acclaimed radio shows for free as well local snoozcasts newscasts from the fine folks at your local NPR station.

As streaming surges, record stores turn the indie knob up to 11

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Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Video might have killed the radio star, but streaming hasn't killed the record store. Photos: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Stroll into your local record store and you won’t find the dusty-floored wasteland of empty bins you might imagine. Chances are you’ll see something that’s more vibrant, relevant and vital than before.

Like the nerdy know-it-alls at specialty wine stores and comic book shops, today’s typical employee at an indie record store is still a tastemaking wizard — just turned up to 11. Staff picks bear the unerring zeal of the true believer, and staffers are more focused on uncovering stuff that you’ll never find on a Walmart CD shelf.

“Since there’s been a turn to Spotify, Bandcamp and iTunes, we sell way more vinyl,” said Jim Haynes, assistant manager at San Francisco’s Aquarius Records. “We’re at about 75 percent vinyl to 20 percent CD and a smattering of cassettes. People are turning to an even more seemingly obsolete medium.”

Predictions of the end of physical media are as played-out as those reports about the death of rock ‘n’ roll, with everyone and their mother proclaiming that Spotify and other streaming services have killed the local record store. That fear-mongering sounds smart and might even contain a kernel of truth, but the reality is much different.

NPR Channel Brings News To iTunes Radio

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When iTunes Radio launched last spring, music streaming services like Pandora and Spotify took cover from the impending Apple invasion, but radio streaming apps like TuneIn Radio might be in Apple’s sights now as well.

Starting today iTunes Radio will feature National Public Radio as its first news channel for the audio streaming service. NPR’s channel will feature a 24-hour live stream with news, along with pre-recorded shows, but it won’t be the only news channel in the iTune Radio lineup.

Pandora Bumps Up Price On Its Ad-Free Streaming Service

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Photo: Pandora

iTunes Radio still has a long way to go before it catches up with Pandora’s number of subscribers, but in an effort to keep up with increasing royalty costs, Pandora announced this morning that it’s bumping up the monthly subscription price for Pandora One.

Starting in May new subscribers will have to pay $4.99 per month if they want their music stream ad free, which is still cheaper than competitors like Spotify and Rdio (both $9.99 per month).

Apple’s alternative, iTunes Radio is ad-free with $24.99 annual iTunes Match subscription, but Pandora is deciding to just drop the annual subscription option altogether.

Here’s a breakdown of the pricing changes:

All We Love About iOS 7.1 Plus Pono Player Takes On iPod On The CultCast

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This time ’round on The CultCast: all that we love about iOS 7.1; more rumors swirl of a 4.7 and 5.7-inch iPhone 6; an intriguing new iPod challenger gets a ton of buzz; why Flappy Bird might fly back into the App Store; 2014 brings a new MS Office; and iTunes Radio is more popular than you thought…

Guffaw your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the uproarious good time commence.

And thanks to Lynda.com for sponsoring this episode. Learn at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at Lynda.com.

And The Winner Is… Best Internet Radio Streaming Service

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Internet Radio has some fierce competition. Since the launch of iTunes Radio in 2013, it became much harder to single out one service in particular that reigns supreme. Does the popular US service Pandora still have what it takes to surpass all others? Is Slacker Radio more your personal preference?

Either way, following on from last week’s column where we compared on-demand music services, we have taken it upon ourselves to narrow down the competition, including iTunes Radio, Pandora,  Slacker Radio, iHeartRadio, Last.fm and TuneIn Radio; see the table below. We’ve also done some hands-on testing and in-depth research in order to determine just who has the leading edge and what they offer in terms of functionality, catalog size, features and usability.

DoubleTwist’s New Mac App Lets You Rip Songs Straight From iTunes Radio

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DoubleTwist — the company behind the AirSync tool which allows users to wireless sync their iTunes data — has released a new Mac app, letting users rip songs directly from iTunes Radio.

Called AirPlay Recorder, the app basically tricks iTunes into thinking that it’s an AirPlay device, so that it will stream music. It then records that audio for later offline playback.

Apple Launches iTunes Radio Down Under

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Apple announced this morning that its iTunes Radio music service has finally branched out from being available only in the U.S.

Starting today iTunes users in Australia can start using Apple’s free Internet radio service, after iTunes Radio originally debuted in the U.S. last September alongside iOS 7. 

How To Rename iTunes Radio Stations With Ease [iOS Tips]

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iTunes Radio Rename

iTunes Radio now lets you create stations full of the artists and songs you like, just like Pandora. You can also add artists to the list that you don’t want playing in the station.

When you create a new iTunes Radio station, though, it’s typically named after the first song or artist that you create the station with. That’s not always what you want.

You can rename any station you like with a couple of easy taps.

Jimmy Iovine’s Beats Music Service Counts Down To Tuesday Launch

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Joining the likes of iTunes Radio, Pandora, Spotify, and Rdio, Beats Music — the music subscription service spearheaded by Jimmy Iovine — launches today, 21 January.

Combining human curation from “the best music experts” to algorithm-based automated recommendations, Beats Music will offer access to over 20 million songs via unlimited, ad-free streaming for $9.99 a month on all the usual platforms — including iOS and Mac.

Selling iAds On iTunes Radio Is “Top Priority” For Apple, Cheaper iAds Coming To Apps

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Apple has restructured its growing iAd division to focus heavily on selling spots for iTunes Radio, according to a report from AdAge. To help sell individual ads to more potential buyers, the company is also reportedly building a real-time bidding exchange for in-app iAds.

At a recent staff meeting, Apple’s Eddy Cue reportedly communicated that iTunes Radio was the “top priority” for selling iAds. “The message that came across was basically if you’re not working on iTunes Radio, you’re irrelevant,” according to an AdAge source. Apple makes 90% of the revenue off its audio ads and only has to give 10% to advertisers. The company recently hired a top-level radio exec from Cumulus Media to help negotiate big deals.

Before iTunes Radio, iAds were only designed for developers to put in iOS apps, but they never really took off. Apple charged a steep premium and was highly selective in selecting ad partners initially, but this recent report suggests that the focus is being shifted to cheaper ads that can be bought individually. The real-time bidding system would work similarly to the stock exchange. In-app iAds could not only become more affordable, but more specifically targeted at users.

Source: AdAge

Apple’s Remote App Can Now Control iTunes Radio

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Today Apple updated its Remote app with the ability to control iTunes Radio on a Mac or PC. Previously, you could only control music in an iTunes Library. A new “Radio” window has been added in the app like the official Music app.

Remote was just recently updated with a big iOS 7 redesign, and it’s available for free in the App Store.

Source: App Store

How To Share Your iTunes Radio Stations [iOS Tips]

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Share iTunes Radio Stations

iTunes Radio competes with other non-on-demand internet radio services, like Pandora. It allows you to pick a seed artist or set of artists and then let its magical algorithms decide what other songs and artists best fit your seed. It then feeds you a stream of music that you can like or dislike along the way, theoretically building a “station” of your favorite music, based on your own tastes.

To access iTunes Radio, all you need to do is launch your Music app with a tap, and then tap on the Radio icon in the lower left. Once there, you can create stations on your own, edit stations you’ve already created, or even listen to iTunes featured stations.

It’s also trivially easy to share your own stations with other folks.

Apple Hires Cumulus Radio Exec To Head International iTunes Radio Ad Sales

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Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

pallad
Michael Pallad, Apple’s new iTunes Radio Adman
Apple is looking to beef up its ads on iTunes Radio and has poached a top radio ad exec in the process as it prepares to open its service to a wider array of advertisers in 2014.

Michael Pallad, former VP of sales at Cumulus Media, has left the radio giant to oversee Apple’s ad sales for iTunes Radio internationally according to a report from AdAge.

Pallad joined Apple on December 2nd and has spent the last week  getting oriented at the Cupertino Headquarters, but he’ll be pressed to get up to speed ASAP as Apple’s initial iTunes Radio ad deals are set to expire at the end of the year.