Apple presented on the 8th what will be its music streaming service to be launched in more than 100 countries within 10 days. Apple Music was presented with great importance and as three products in one: a revolutionary music service, a 24/7 global radio and a connection between fans and artists. The person in charge of presenting it was Jimmy Lovine, formerly of Beats, who described him as "Un complete thought about music"And speaking of how Apple Music is"Everything you like about music. All in one place".
In this article we are going to explain everything that is known (and some things that are supposed) about Apple Music, the Apple's streaming music service which hopes to compete with Spotify, Pandora and Rdio, among others.
Pricing
Apple Music will be priced at € 9.99 - $ / month for individual use, which will give us access to all its functions. As well a family version for up to 6 people will be available for € 14.99 - $ / month. In this case, we will share a subscription with the family members that we have configured in “In family”.
We will have a 3-month trial available to check if the service is made for us or not.
What goes into the free version?
There will be certain Apple Music features that do not require a subscription. We will only need an Apple ID and log in to be able to enjoy them. What we will have available will be:
Beats 1: A 24/7 Worldwide Radio Station
This radio station will broadcast live and free to all countries. It is a radio station "completely dedicated to music and its culture”. Beats 1 will be directed by DJ Zawe Lowe in Los Angeles, Ebro Darden in New York and Julie Adenuga in London.
In addition to being free, it will be free of advertising.
Stations
This feature will be familiar to those of us who have used iTunes Radio, although Apple says it has been completely revamped. It is very similar to what other services offer us, allowing us create radio stations from an artist, song or style, but Apple has the advantage of having a better relationship between the values that we choose. As I said in the article about the first images of Apple Music in Spanish, other services have linked me to groups that, in reality, are not alike at all, showing that the work is done by machines that don't understand much about music.
Those who do not have a subscription will be able to advance songs 6 times per hour, but those who are subscribed will be able to advance as many as they want.
Connect
The latest feature and the most exclusive novelty is Connect. Is about a social network that aims to connect fans with artists. Artists can post messages, share their favorite music, upload audio, video, and photos. Let's say it is a kind of Twitter, but focused on music.
As fans, we can comment and like anything an artist shares on their Connect page, as well as share it from our devices. As on Twitter, artists will be able to reply to our comments. Apple claims that “takes our connection to music to a whole new level".
Audio quality
Apple Music will broadcast at 256kbps, the same bitrate used in iTunes Match and most iTunes songs, but the codec they will use in the streaming music service is not mentioned. Anyway, it's probably AAC, so if it's 256kbps AAC, which is what Apple uses in iTunes, will have a quality equal to or better than MP3 audio at 320kbps.
Apple Music: Streaming
This is the service that will most resemble the competition. We will have the entire Apple Music catalog at our fingertips from any device. There will be about 40 million songs available, as well as we can listen to our music (purchased or ripped) anywhere and in streaming. All of this will be in the Music tab of the new Music app coming in iOS 8.4. As well we can download the songs for offline playback.
Síri will be fully integrated with Apple Music, which will allow us, for example, to ask you to play the best songs of 1994 and it will do so without problems.
We will have available almost the entire iTunes catalog. Discographies like The Beatles will not be available on this service.
Our Team
Apple Music will learn from our preferences. As soon as we start using it, it will ask us to select some artists that Apple will combine with our library to recommend us in the “For you” tab. But these are not simple algorithms, as Apple has hired music experts to do this type of work manually.
New
Music experts will be looking for new artists that we might like. When something new is available that we might like, they will recommend it to us in the New tab. Videos will also be included in this section.
Availability
Apple Music will be available from June 30 in more than 100 countries. The countries that we see it in the iOS 9 and iOS 8.4 betas should have it available from day one.
We can access Apple Music from any iOS device with iOS 8.4 or higher, with the Apple Watch, Apple TV and with iTunes (Windows and Mac), which will be updated on the 30th day or hours before. As well an Android app will be available that will arrive approximately in October, but, in this case, there will be nothing free as there is in all the other options.
Is anything known about the quality of reproduction? That is, will it be the same quality as in iTunes or can we improve the quality as in spotify?
Hello, Bogar. That I have forgotten. The quality will be 256kbps in AAC. It has a higher quality than MP3 and some claim that it is similar to that of an MP3 at 320kbps.
Thanks, it's a shame, I'm excited to use this service, but it would be very disappointing if the quality was lower than what I have now with spotify. Greetings, excellent note !!!
Why is the discography of The Beatles not going to be available?
Hello, and if I have the Beatles' music in iTunes match ... Will I still be able to continue listening to Apple music?
Hi Gredif. The services will be independent. If you have iTunes Match, you can continue listening to their music as you do now.
Sorry, the free service will allow us to play "random playlist with changes of 6 per hour" this would be similar to what spotify gives with the difference that in spotify it is every 6 hours I think. Would it be like this or am I wrong?
in free mode is there a limit on hours of music playback? and would streaming also be available?
On the Apple website in Spain, France, Germany ... if you go to the Apple Music subscription section and consult the table with what the service includes only with
Apple ID, it is not checked 'Listen to Apple Music radio stations', only Beats 1.
Hi Yoal. Beats 1 is the name of the new radio. I have iOS 9 and I have tried it. It doesn't work, but if I tell it "start station" it tries and stops. If I click "play song" it tells me that I have to be subscribed. That part was already on iTunes Radio and will continue to be available.
Hi, Pablo! Thanks for the answer, even so, by way of curiosity rather, to see if I have understood correctly and explain my doubts:
If it works like iTunes Radio, it just couldn't be used if it wasn't with an American ID. This coupled with the fact that in the table that I indicate and that they presented in the last Keynote the possibility of listening to Apple Music radio stations, in addition to the Beats 1 radio station, was marked, while in Apple's European pages only The Beats 1 station is included and not the rest, it leads me to wonder if at least initially the radio stations in iTunes Radio mode will not be available for ID outside the US
Hi, Pablo! Thanks for the answer, even so, by way of curiosity rather, to see if I have understood correctly and explain my doubts:
If it works like iTunes Radio, it just couldn't be used if it wasn't with an American ID. This coupled with the fact that in the table that I indicate and that they presented in the last Keynote the possibility of listening to Apple Music radio stations, in addition to the Beats 1 radio station, was marked, while in Apple's European pages only The Beats 1 station is included and not the rest, it leads me to wonder if at least initially the radio stations in iTunes Radio mode will not be available for ID outside the US. That is to say Beats 1 worldwide but the other radio stations only for the USA.
Well, we can never really be sure of anything until it becomes official. It is like everything that is said about the new iPhone: until it is presented, however clear it may seem, it is a "rumor". What I am telling you about is what the application does in iOS 9. I, with my Spanish ID, put a group and I get the group, its albums and songs. If I play on a song I get a pop-up window (this one in English) and it tells me that I have to be subscribed. But if I play the station, it makes the unsuccessful attempt to start it. What I tell you is for the subscription notice.
They have also signed, apart from DJs for 24/7 radio, people who select music for these types of stations. I would be surprised if that job was no longer useful. In addition, one of the things we can do if we pay is to advance songs as many times as we want, staying at 6 / h if we do not pay. Logically, we cannot advance the songs of the stations where a DJ plays. We will have to advance the songs on stations of this type.
I insist that in this sense they are more sensations than anything else. All the information on practically everything is focused on North America and surely on China, but the Chinese neither touch us nor understand them hehe
I understand Pablo. Thank you very much for the answers and your time. Wait for the service to come out! 😉
Yoal, no trace of radio stations other than Beats 1 in the free version in Spain and of course, no trace of the 6 free jumps per hour.
http://www.apple.com/es/music/membership/
As you say, wait ...