Apple Music: The Dawn Of A New Streaming Era?

Is Apple Music set to be the most powerful music streaming service on offer?
For many years Apple’s iTunes has been among the default destinations for obtaining digital music. However, in the age of Spotify and SoundCloud, the concept of purchasing individual songs and albums seems almost passé. As we reported recently, music consumption is increasingly taking place through internet-based streaming services.
When Apple purchased Dr Dre’s Beats brand for $3 billion last year, many of us predicted that the Californian software giants wanted more than just a successful headphones brand. Those suspicions have been confirmed with the announcement of Apple Music. This upcoming service will combine elements from iTunes and the now-defunct Beats Music platform into a new model with a vast music library and curated playlists. Despite a well-publicised PR spat, Taylor Swift will also be among the artists promoted by Apple Music, after it abandoned controversial plans not to pay artist royalties during the service’s first three months of operation.
Apple’s decision to launch a music streaming service is undoubtedly due to the success of rivals like Rdio and Pandora. While Norwegian-based Tidal was acquired by Jay Z earlier this year, a Swedish competitor has already established itself as the undisputed market leader. In just seven years, Spotify has attracted 20 million paying subscribers and presently boasts almost four times as many active users every month. Despite having paid $3 billion in rights revenues, Spotify has become a rags-to-riches success story, available in almost 60 countries and currently adding 20,000 tracks per day to its 30 million-strong song catalogue. If you’re willing to put up with adverts, it doesn’t even cost you a cent.
Despite levying a charge for each user account, Apple Music will still have some advantages over its competitors:

• Firstly, it claims to have 37 million tracks in its database. This includes the infamous Songs of Innocence album by U2, which we discussed in an earlier blog post
• There will be family memberships where mum and dad can share a monthly subscription with up to four of their nearest and dearest
• Seamless integration with existing MP3s will create a service where downloaded and streamed songs dovetail together better than they do on Spotify
• The Zane Lowe-anchored live radio station Beats 1 will incorporate everything from artist interviews to roundups of new music around the clock
• It’s also worth bearing in mind that Apple has 800 million existing iTunes account holders and each of these users will have Apple Music installed in their phone as default through their next software update
• Apple Music will even be available on Android devices later this year

While debates about the rival merits of Apple Music and Spotify may rage among the young professionals who comprise their core audience, musicians are often less enthusiastic. Indeed, some have already embraced different techniques for promoting their music. Wildhearts frontman Ginger has achieved remarkable success through the PledgeMusic crowdfunding platform, while Radiohead once released an album that fans could purchase for whatever they thought it was worth. Thom Yorke has described Spotify as “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse”, though there are plenty of Radiohead songs available on other streaming sites.
While some consumers won’t be concerned by issues like artist royalties or how new bands can establish themselves without record-label support, many iTunes account holders may refrain from upgrading to Apple Music. Never underestimate the power of Apple persuasion though…