If recent reports are to be believed, then we will see the relaunch of Apple’s music streaming service, Beats Music, in the upcoming days.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is gearing up to unveil their new and improved music streaming service as early as next week, at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference. The relaunch of Beats Music looks set to take on streaming competitors such as Spotify, in a bid to make yet another Apple service the best of the best.
As we all know, Apple has long since held the top position when it comes to downloading music with iTunes. However, the recent shift in popularity from downloading music, to streaming music, has put Apple in a spot that they are unfamiliar with – second. So naturally, the tech giant is looking for a way to take that streaming crown from Spotify. And they’re hoping the new Beats will do just that.
But what exactly does a relaunch mean and what can we expect from the new and improved beats?
According to the source the WSJ talked to (who claims to be familiar “…[sic] with the talks”), the new Beats Music service will have two tiers: a premium tier and a free tier.
The premium tier will cost $10 per month – as it does currently – or, alternatively be available at a discounted price of $100 per month. This tier will offer users unlimited, on-demand and ad-free streaming.
The free tier, on the other hand, is said to be a sort-of ‘expansion’ of iTunes Radio. Sources claim that Apple will add more channels and original content to the existing iTunes Radio, and may even enlist the help of celebrities to host their own shows. Beats founder, Dr. Dre, is tipped to be one of these said celebrities to host their own iTunes Radio show.
The update will be for the Music app as well as on iOS. The report also claims that Apple might launch an Android version of the service – which, of course, will make for interesting stories..
Users who are currently subscribed to Beats Music will apparently not see a huge difference in the service right away, and will be moved over to the new service systematically.
Beats Music is said to be on the verge of signing licensing agreements with the three biggest record labels including Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony.
We’ll have to keep an eye out for the Beats Music announcement at Apple’s WWDC on June 8th.
Source: CNet, WSJ
