The oft-rumored, and far-from-official, revamped music streaming service from Apple has seen quite a bit of attention lately. And that trend continues.
According to a new report from Re/code, Apple will indeed have some free content within the revamped Beats-branded streaming service, but it won’t be in the same way that other services do it. Instead of having a free tier that will provide music mixed with ads, like Spotify and others do, Apple will apparently be offering free samples of content instead. The goal? To offer just a tease, just enough, to get people to subscribe to the full, paid service.
The report does indicate that there are some stipulations, though, and that Apple is considering several different paths. That includes a free period, or trial period, that could extend to three months. This, like any other deal, is dependent on Apple finalizing deals with music labels, which have not been finalized according to a separate report published earlier in May.
There are some interesting additions to the mix, as well, as the report indicates that not only will iTunes Radio get improved, but stations will start to get personalized by other human beings, rather than computers. On top of that, users might be able to upload their own content, similar to SoundCloud, that could allow them to test the service without paying for it:
- A feature that will let music owners upload a sampling of songs that users could could listen to without subscribing to the service. Several sources describe this feature as something akin to SoundCloud, the music streaming service that describes itself as the “YouTube for audio.â€
- A new version of Apple’s iTunes Radio, featuring stations programmed by human beings instead of computers, which could be localized for different countries. Apple hired popular BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe this spring and has subsequently wooed four top producers from the station, Music Business Worldwide reported.
Recently, Spotify raised its own complaints over Apple’s upcoming music streaming service, suggesting Apple is taking part in anti-competitive behavior.
Are you looking forward to Apple’s music streaming service?
Like this post? Share it!
No comments:
Post a Comment