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Tag: Apple Music

  • Apple TV and Music Come to 200 TV Brands via LG webOS Hub

    Apple TV and Music Come to 200 TV Brands via LG webOS Hub

    LG has expanded the availability of Apple’s entertainment apps, bringing them to some 200 TV brands.

    LG already supports Apple TV and Apple Music on its own smart TVs, but the company is now bringing the apps to its webOS Hub, which is used by 200 other TV brands. This will make Apple’s services available to countless other customers.

    The outlined the expansion in a news release:

    With the Apple TV app, Apple Music, AirPlay and HomeKit all coming to the webOS Hub ecosystem, LG is constantly refining and expanding its webOS smart TV platform while enhancing its accessibility so that more consumers can benefit from the most convenient user experience.

    By offering a greater range of customization options to smart TV manufacturers and giving more convenience and choice of content to customers, 10 times as many brands are now available on webOS Hub than in early 2021, with LG now working with 200 partners in total including Seiki, Eko, Stream System, Konka, Aiwa and Hyundai. Through these efforts, LG is now primely positioned to deliver on its promise of pioneering streamlined content viewing experiences for millions of people around the globe.

    LG says webOS Hub will support the full range of options, including the ability to AirPlay content.

    webOS Hub will also be compatible with AirPlay, so users can stream movies, music, games and photos to their smart TV right from their iPhone, iPad or Mac. What’s more, webOS Hub-powered TVs are also Apple Home-enabled, giving users control of their TV in the Apple Home app and Siri using Apple HomeKit technology.

    The expansion of webOS Hub is good news for LG and Apple both, with the latter likely to benefit from more customers having easy access to its growing catalog of content.

  • Apple Music Sing Brings Karaoke to Apple Music

    Karaoke fans are in for a treat, thanks to a new feature Apple is introducing called Apple Music Sing.

    Apple Music has had lyrics support for some time, but Apple Music Sing will take it to the next level with adjustable vocals, real-time lyrics, background vocals, and duet view.

    “Apple Music’s lyrics experience is consistently one of the most popular features on our service,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “We already know our users all over the world love to follow along to their favorite songs, so we wanted to evolve this offering even further to enable even more engagement around music through singing. It’s really a lot of fun, our customers are going to love it.”

    The feature will debut later in December and can be used on the iPhone, iPad, and the latest Apple TV 4K.

  • Apple Raising Prices on Apple One, Apple Music, and Apple TV+

    Apple Raising Prices on Apple One, Apple Music, and Apple TV+

    Apple fans are in for a disappointment, with the company jumping on the price-raise bandwagon sweeping the tech industry.

    Apple is raising prices on its popular media services, including Apple One, Apple Music, and Apple TV+, according to 9to5Mac. The price increases range from $1 to $3 per month, depending on the plan.

    Apple One

    • Individual: $14.95 > $16.95 per month
    • Family: $19.95 > $22.95 per month
    • Premier: $29.95 > $32.95 per month

    Apple Music

    • Individual: $9.99 > $10.99 per month
    • Family: $14.99 > $16.99 per month
    • Annual: $99 > $109 per Individual plan

    Apple TV+

    • Monthly: $4.99 > $6.99 per month
    • Annual: $49.99 > $69

    Apple confirmed the price changes in a statement to 9to5Mac:

    The subscription prices for Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One will increase beginning today. The change to Apple Music is due to an increase in licensing costs, and in turn, artists and songwriters will earn more for the streaming of their music. We also continue to add innovative features that make Apple Music the world’s best listening experience. We introduced Apple TV+ at a very low price because we started with just a few shows and movies. Three years later, Apple TV+ is home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers.

    The outlet says international markets will see similar raises.

  • Amazon Music Set to Pass Pandora For Number Two Spot

    Amazon Music Set to Pass Pandora For Number Two Spot

    Amazon Music is set to pass Pandora as the second-largest music app, leaving only Spotify ahead of it.

    Spotify may be the market leader by a relatively wide margin, but the battle for second-place is much closer. Pandora has been in that position for some time, but Axios reports that Amazon Music will surpass it in 2022, with 53 million people expected to tune in at least once a month. In contrast, 49 million people are expected to listen to Pandora at least once a month in 2022.

    Despite its market dominance, Spotify has recently found itself mired in controversy over its support of Joe Rogan. As a result, multiple artists have pulled their music catalogs from the platform, leaving it in a more vulnerable position than it has been in years.

    Only time will tell if Amazon Music, Pandora, or Apple Music will be able to take advantage of Spotify’s predicament and make some major headway in the market.

  • Apple Drops Apple Music Trial to One Month

    Apple Drops Apple Music Trial to One Month

    Apple has dropped its free trial period for Apple Music from three months to a single month.

    Apple Music has traditionally had one of the most generous trial periods, giving new users three months to decide whether they want to pay for the service. According to Mac Otakara, via Mac Rumors, Apple is cutting that down to a single month.

    The new trial period is largely inline with Apple’s rivals. Spotify, for example, usually offers a one-month trial as well. However, as Mac Rumors points out, the company is currently offering a two-month trial for a limited time in some markets, and is offering first-time users who sign up via PayPal a total of three months.

    There’s been no official statement from Apple, but it’s likely the company feels an extended trial is no longer necessary, thanks to the popularity of the service.

  • Apple Buys Primephonic, Will Launch Dedicated Classical Music App

    Apple Buys Primephonic, Will Launch Dedicated Classical Music App

    Apple has acquired Primephonic, a leading classical music streaming service, and plans to released a dedicated classical music app.

    Primephonic made its name as a classical music streaming service, offering handpicked, premium quality audio. Apple wants to build on that, offering Apple Music subscribers the best in classical music.

    “We love and have a deep respect for classical music, and Primephonic has become a fan favorite for classical enthusiasts,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “Together, we’re bringing great new classical features to Apple Music, and in the near future, we’ll deliver a dedicated classical experience that will truly be the best in the world.” 

    “Bringing the best of Primephonic to Apple Music subscribers is a tremendous development for the classical music industry,” said Thomas Steffens, Primephonic’s co-founder and CEO. “Artists love the Primephonic service and what we’ve done in classical, and now we have the ability to join with Apple to deliver the absolute best experience to millions of listeners. We get to bring classical music to the mainstream and connect a new generation of musicians with the next generation of audience.” 

    Primephonic is no longer accepting new subscribers, and will go offline September 7, while Apple works on integrating its features into its own standalone classical music app. Primephonic subscribers will receive six months of Apple Music for free as part of the deal.

  • Apple Music Support Likely Coming to Tesla

    Apple Music Support Likely Coming to Tesla

    Teslas may soon have native Apple Music support, according to a hacker who found a placeholder in Tesla’s software.

    With an estimated 72 million subscribers, Apple Music is one of the most popular music streaming services. Apple has been steadily improving its offering, including family sharing options and making it easy for auto manufactures to integrate via CarPlay.

    Hacker @greentheonly was poking around the Tesla 2020.48.26 software update and found a reference to Apple Music.

    According to the hacker, Tidal integration is probably next, but it appears Tesla has been working on Apple Music integration for some time. Hopeful Tesla owners will soon be able to access the feature.

  • Apple Beefing Up Cloud Division With Spate of Hires

    Apple Beefing Up Cloud Division With Spate of Hires

    Apple has been on a hiring spree, bringing in some of the best cloud engineers money can buy.

    While cloud computing may not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of the iPhone maker, the company has a large cloud presence. The App Store, Apple Music, iCloud Drive and file storage, as well as Apple TV+ are all part of the company’s cloud presence.

    As Protocol reports, it’s unclear what the new hires are being brought on to tackle, although the sheer number and quality of the hires is impressive. According to Protocol, the list includes:

    • Michael Crosby, one of a handful of ex-Docker engineers to join Apple this year. “Michael is who we can thank for containers as they exist today. He was the powerhouse engineer behind all of it,” said a former colleague who asked to remain anonymous.
    • Arun Gupta, who joined Apple in February from AWS and is now leading Apple’s open-source efforts.
    • Maksym Pavlenko, another former AWS employee who worked on its managed container services such as AWS Fargate.
    • Francesc Campoy, an ex-Googler who will be working on Kubernetes for Apple.

    It will be interesting to see what Apple has planned, and whether it is simply beefing up its existing services, or more directly going after mainstream cloud providers.

  • Facebook Is Turning Spotify, Apple Music Links Into 30-Sec Previews That Anyone Can Listen To

    Facebook Is Turning Spotify, Apple Music Links Into 30-Sec Previews That Anyone Can Listen To

    Since the dawn of the status update, Facebook users have been posting about what music they’re listening to. A lot of the time, users post links to YouTube videos. For a while, Spotify shares have gone in and then out of favor. Nobody really liked linking their entire Spotify activity to Facebook. That was just overkill.

    Now, Facebook has thought up a new way for users to share music. The company is now rolling out what it calls “Music Stories” on its iOS app.

    Music Stories are basically 30-second clips from songs shared via Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes. When users share a song on their Facebook feed from Spotify, for example, Facebook converts that track to a Music Story and allows users to listen to a 30-second clip.

    The music is contained inside Facebook’s wall – meaning you don’t have to be a member of Spotify or Apple Music to hear the samples.

    From Facebook:

    On the Facebook iPhone app, songs and albums shared from the leading music services will become “Music Stories,” a new post format which allows people to listen to a 30-second preview of the shared song (or album) while on Facebook. The preview is streamed from either Apple Music or Spotify (depending on the source of the link shared), and can be purchased from or saved to the respective music streaming service.

    The previews from Apple Music and iTunes are available directly through Facebook. If you want more, click through to stream full tracks on Apple Music or add music to your library with a single click to purchase through the iTunes store. The previews from Spotify are also available directly through Facebook. If you want more, click through to stream full tracks on Spotify or add to your library without leaving Facebook.

    According to the company, Music Stories will expand support for other streaming platforms in the near future.

    So, long story short, expect a lot more music to pop up in your news feed.

  • Apple Music Just Launched in China and Wow It’s Cheap

    Apple Music is now available in China, a very important market for Apple, and it’s pretty damn cheap.

    How cheap? 10 RMB per month, which is about $1.50. Plus, they’re getting the same three-month free trial as everyone else.

    In the US, Apple Music is $9.99 per month, or $14.99 for a family plan. In the UK, it’s similar.

    The cheap price makes sense – there’s no way Apple could have charged equivalent to $10 in China. But getting it down to $1.50 is pretty crazy.

    “Customers in China love the App Store and have made it our largest market in the world for app downloads,” said Eddy Cue. “One of the top requests has been more great content and we’re thrilled to bring music, movies and books to China, curated by a local team of experts.”

    “Launching with millions of songs in its catalog, Apple Music in China features music from artists including Eason Chan, Li Ronghao, JJ Lin and G.E.M., as well as a wide range of international artists including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and many more.”

    But for $1.50, Taylor Swift might wonder how she’s going to get paid.

    Apple Music isn’t the only thing coming (cheaply) to China today. The country is getting iTunes Movies and iBooks as well. Movies on iTunes will start at 5 RMB HD rental and 18 RMB for HD purchase. Paid iBooks start at 0.5 RMB.

    Speaking of Apple Music, if you were early to sign up for a free trial when it first hit the States – your free trial is probably ending soon. Maybe today.

  • Apple Music Free Trials Are About to End, FYI

    If you signed up for Apple Music when it first launched, your free trial is almost up.

    When Apple launched Apple Music on June 30th, the company gave all new Apple Music users a three-month free trial as a way to lure them in the door. If you’ve checked the calendar recently, you’ll notice that it’s almost time to pay up – if you want to keep using the service, of course.

    Just a reminder – Apple automatically enabled auto-renewal when you signed up for the free-trial. That means that Apple will automatically charge you the $9.99 subscription fee when your three months runs out – unless you disable auto-renewal.

    You can learn how to do that here.

    Apple is pushing for people to stick with the service. The company is sending out emails to users urging them to turn on auto-renewal (if you’ve turned it off, as I did):

    Screen Shot 2015-09-29 at 3.32.31 PM

    How big of a splash is Apple Music making in the crowded field of streaming music services? That’s a little hard to know. A well-publicized study from MusicWatch found the 48% of those who tried Apple Music’s free trail had abandoned the service.

    The survey also found that 61% of those enjoying a free trial have already turned off the auto-renewal option and only 77% of iOS users even knew about Apple Music – so Apple still has a bit of educating to do.

    Apple disputed those numbers, saying the 79% of signups are still using the service. Last month Ian Rogers, the once-CEO of Beats Music and Apple exec who crafted the Beats 1 “always-on” radio platform resigned.

  • Apple Music Exec Abruptly Leaves Company

    Apple Music Exec Abruptly Leaves Company

    Two month ago, Apple unveiled its long-awaited music streaming platform, Apple Music. Now, one of its top execs is abruptly leaving the company.

    Ian Rogers, the once CEO of Beats Music and Apple exec who crafted the Beats 1 “always-on” radio platform has resigned, reports the Financial Times.

    Rogers joined Apple alongside Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine when it acquired Beats last year.

    According to the Times, Rogers is heading out to work for a “Europe-based company in an unrelated industry.” Apparently, this move has surprised everyone at Apple.

    Beats 1 radio is a big part of Apple Music’s strategy – at least in terms of subscriber acquisition. Apple says it’s “not just radio reimagined, it’s radio like you’ve never imagined.”

    Rogers was responsible for ushering in Zane Lowe, who runs the 24-hour stations with a handful of other DJs. Beats 1 broadcasts at all hours, from locations across the world.

    Recently, a study suggested that 48% of people who signed up for an Apple Music free trial had abandoned the service.

    Apple issued a rebuttal, saying the study was wrong and 79% of Apple Music users are still using the service.

  • Apple “Has Every Reason to Believe Dr. Dre Has Changed”

    Apple “Has Every Reason to Believe Dr. Dre Has Changed”

    It’s a pretty big month for Dr Dre.

    He’s just released a new album, which is being met with rave reviews. A movie about him, in part, is riding high at the top of the box office. Apple, a company for which he works, recently dedicated an entire branch of its new streaming music platforms to the company he founded.

    But with extra attention comes extra scrutiny, and all this talk about Dre has led to some of the abusive episodes of his past coming to the forefront.

    Now, for the first time, Apple has addressed its exec’s past.

    Dre has apologized for the mistakes he’s made in the past and he’s said that he’s not the same person that he was 25 years ago. We believe his sincerity and after working with him for a year and a half, we have every reason to believe that he has changed.

    Ok, well, kind of.

    Dre himself offered a lengthier response to criticisms that the film Straight Outta Compton glosses over his violent past – particularly that involving women.

    Dre issued an apology to “the women I’ve hurt.”

    “Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life. However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I’ve been married for 19 years and every day I’m working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I’m doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again,” said Dre. “I apologize to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.”

    Image via Tim Cook, Twitter

  • Apple Music Sees 48% of Trialers Stop Using the Service, Says Study

    There’s a new study out about Apple Music, and it suggests that a lot of people have given up on the company’s new streaming service.

    According to a MusicWatch survey of 5,000 US consumers, 48 percent of those who have tried Apple Music have stopped using the service.

    And only 11 percent of iOS users are using Apple Music.

    “In terms of benchmarking Apple Music, 40 percent of iOS users are buying digital downloads from iTunes, suggesting trial of Apple Music could be higher,” said Russ Crupnick, managing partner of MusicWatch. “That’s the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good services currently exist.”

    Also, 61 percent of those enjoying a free trial have already turned off the auto-renewal option. If you want to but haven’t done that yet, here’s how.

    That’s some of the bad news – now here’s a piece of meh news. According to the study, 64 percent of those currently using Apple Music said they were “very likely” to pay for it once their free trial ends.

    Now for a little bit of silver lining: 28 percent of Spotify Premium subscribers are also using Apple Music. But of course, Apple Music users are still in free trial mode – so whether or not that 28 percent will pay for both Apple Music and Spotify is still to be determined.

    MusicWatch found that only 77 percent of iOS users even knew about Apple Music – so Apple still has a bit of educating to do. Maybe once the entirety of the iOS community is made aware, those subscriber rates will jump.

    Apple did have quite a bit of success with a recent exclusive, however. Dr. Dre’s new Compton album saw 25 million streams in its first week of availability. It also had about a half a million iTunes downloads.

  • Apple Music Festival Kicks off Sept. 19 with Pharrell, One Direction, Disclosure

    Apple Music Festival Kicks off Sept. 19 with Pharrell, One Direction, Disclosure

    For eight years, Apple put on the iTunes Festival in London.

    Now, it’s out with the old and in with the new. The multiple-day concert has been rebranded as the Apple Music Festival, and the company has just announced its dates and headliners.

    This year’s major acts will include Pharrell, One Direction, Florence + The Machine and Disclosure.

    The 10-day event will kick off September 19th.

    “We wanted to do something really special for music fans this year,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The Apple Music Festival is a greatest hits set of ten unbelievable nights featuring some of the best performers on the planet appearing live and interacting directly with their fans on Connect and Beats 1.”

    #AppleMusicFestival is coming! @Pharrell, @OneDirection, @ouhoh, @Disclosure and more. applemusic.com/festival

    A video posted by Apple Music (@applemusic) on

    Folks across the world will be able to stream the event on Apple Music (both live and on0-demand). As Eddy Cue mentioned above, there will also be a lot of special cross-promotional content on Beats 1. If you live in London (or anywhere close) and want to actually attend the event, you’ll have to apply to win tickets.

    Image via Apple

  • Dr. Dre’s New Album Streams Thursday on Apple Music

    If you’re looking to hear Dr Dre’s first album since we were all up in arms about Y2K, you’ll need to go through Apple – as it’s an iTunes and Apple Music exclusive.

    But if you have Apple Music, which you probably should, as it’s still free for most of you, you can listen to it this Thursday evening.

    Compton: A Soundtrack will be streaming at 6pm ET on August 6th. The album hits iTunes the next day.

    And it looks like it’s going to be uncensored, unlike everything else that Apple Streams on its Beats 1 radio.

    I guess when you’re an executive at the company, you can pull some strings.

  • Trying Apple Music? Don’t Forget to Turn Off Auto-Renewal

    Apple just launched its streaming music competitor, Apple Music, and I’m sure you’re at least thinking about trying it out. Apple is offering up a free three-month trial, which is a pretty sweet deal. Who wouldn’t want to have access to unlimited music, on-demand, for free for three months?

    But you don’t want to wind up paying for it at the end, before you have a chance to cancel, right?

    When you elect to begin your free trial, Apple forces you to choose a plan structure (either the $10 single plan or the $15 family plan). It doesn’t charge you right away of anything, but it does set you up to auto-renew (see: start paying) for said subscription on the day your three-month free trial runs out.

    It’s an old game, played by many. Many a dollar has been made on free trials auto-renewing into paid subscriptions. We’ve all fallen victim (cough … Hulu).

    Here’s how to make sure that doesn’t happen, now, while you’re still thinking about it.

    First, head to your Apple Music app and tap the account icon at the top left corner. This will open up a page that looks like this:

    Screen Shot 2015-07-01 at 2.47.34 PM

    From there, select “View Apple ID”. That’ll pull up your Account Settings:

    Screen Shot 2015-07-01 at 2.47.46 PM

    Tap “Manage”. This will open up your active subscriptions:

    Screen Shot 2015-07-01 at 2.47.57 PM

    Now, all you have to do, is turn of auto-renewal. Piece of cake. And if you do happen to love Apple Music, you can come back here in three months and sign back up for a paid subscription.

    Now, head on over to Beats 1 radio and enjoy some censored Dr. Dre.

  • Apple Is Censoring Dr. Dre (and Everything Else) on Beats 1 Radio

    Today, Apple launched Apple Music to the world. And Apple’s always on, “progressive” radio station Beats 1 is currently censoring the music it plays worldwide.

    Apple, who gave Dr. Dre a “senior role” in the company when it acquired his Beats company last year, is bleeping out curse words in songs from The Chronic.

    “Beats 1 is a place for progressive radio programming. Alongside new music programs from our anchor DJs, we’ve invited some of the biggest artists in the world to make brilliant radio shows — from exclusive weekly DJ mixes to interviews with iconic musicians about albums that changed their lives. Beats 1 plays everything from old-school hip-hop to futuristic pop, and it’s all handpicked by people who live and breathe music,” says Apple.

    And edited tracks, like if someone gave Walmart a deck and its own radio station.

    Apple confirmed to BuzzFeed that “it is censoring explicit content on Beats 1, and it’s doing it worldwide. The company declined to provide any further comment.”

    Other popular internet radio destinations like Pandora do not censor content, instead providing an “explicit filter” if listeners choose to block explicit content.

    It looks like Apple wants to keep Beats 1 family friendly. This really shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering Apple’s draconian regulation of App Store apps.

  • Apple to Pay 0.247 Cents Per Stream During Apple Music Free Trial?

    Apple is set to pay labels 0.2 cents per stream during its Apple Music free trial period, which is set to kick off on June 30 and last up the three months.

    According to the New York Times, Apple worked out a royalty structure just a day after its decision to pay artists anything at all for music streamed during the new service’s free trial period.

    From the NYT:

    For each song that is streamed free, Apple will pay 0.2 cent for the use of recordings, a rate that music executives said was roughly comparable to the free tiers from services like Spotify. This rate does not include a smaller payment for songwriting rights that goes to music publishers; Apple is still negotiating with many publishers over those terms, several publishing companies confirmed on Wednesday.

    And according to Billboard, Apple may pay out an additional 0.047 cents per stream for rights, meaning Apple could pay 0.247 cents total per stream during the free trial period.

    This is at least comparable to a service like Spotify, which used a roughly 35% royalty structure for streams made by free tier users.

    Apple recently ironed out deals with independent labels after reversing course and agreeing to pay royalties for songs streaming during the upcoming free trial period.

    The Worldwide Independent Network endorsed the Apple Music deal, saying Apple Music is a good deal for artists.

    “I am pleased to say that Apple has made a decision to pay for all usage of Apple Music under the free trials on a per-play basis, as well as to modify a number of other terms that members had been communicating directly with Apple about. With these changes, we are happy to support and endorse the deal,” said WIN Chief Alison Wenham.

    “Apple has a long standing, deep rooted relationship with the music community and has always helped ensure artists get paid for their work. We think Apple Music provides artists with a business model that’s good for the long term and we look forward to its launch on June 30.”

    So apparently, the indies are ok with the rate.

  • Apple Music Scores Some Major Indie Love

    It looks like Apple and independent music labels are going to get along after all.

    Following Apple’s big 180 regarding the payment of artists during Apple Music’s free trial period, the company has inked a couple of big deals and gained the blessing of a major indie rep.

    Billboard reports that Apple has struck deals with two of the biggest indies around – Merlin and Beggars Group.

    “Over the last few days we have had increasingly fruitful discussions with Apple. We are now delighted to say that we are happy to endorse the deal with Apple Music as it now stands, and look forward to being a big part of a very exciting future,” said Martin Mills, Beggars Group.

    Beggars Group covers 4AD, XL, Matador and Rough Trade, and played a major role in artists like Radiohead and Arcade Fire.

    Merlin represents over 20,000 labels.

    The Worldwide Independent Network also endorsed the Apple Music deal, saying Apple music is a good deal for artists.

    “I am pleased to say that Apple has made a decision to pay for all usage of Apple Music under the free trials on a per-play basis, as well as to modify a number of other terms that members had been communicating directly with Apple about. With these changes, we are happy to support and endorse the deal,” said WIN Chief Alison Wenham.

    “Apple has a long standing, deep rooted relationship with the music community and has always helped ensure artists get paid for their work. We think Apple Music provides artists with a business model that’s good for the long term and we look forward to its launch on June 30.”

    When Apple announced Apple Music recently, many artists (especially indie) were upset to learn that the service wasn’t planning on paying artists, producers, or writers during the thee-month free trial period that all new subscribers will enjoy when the service launches. But the company changed its tune following an open letter published by Taylor Swift, in which she threatened to withhold her hit album 1989 from the service unless Apple capitulated.

    They did.

    Apple Music is set to launch on June 30.

    Image via Apple

  • Google Play Music Now Has a Free, Ad-Supported Radio Tier

    To some people Google Play Music, Google’s subscription music streaming service, may have gotten lost in a sea of other offerings. But now, just a week before Apple launches its new music streaming platform, Google is reminding you about its own service and sweetening things a bit.

    Starting today on the web and soon on iOS and Android, Google is offering a free, ad-supported tier to Play Music.

    No, you won’t be able to call up songs on-demand. Much like Pandora or Spotify’s free tier, Google Play Music’s free tier is based around “radio” stations – curated playlists based on specific songs, artists, or moods.

    “At any moment in your day, Google Play Music has whatever you need music for—from working, to working out, to working it on the dance floor—and gives you curated radio stations to make whatever you’re doing better. Our team of music experts, including the folks who created Songza, crafts each station song by song so you don’t have to. If you’re looking for something specific, you can browse our curated stations by genre, mood, decade or activity, or you can search for your favorite artist, album or song to instantly create a station of similar music,” says Google Play Music product manager Elias Roman.

    Of course, the goal for Google is to get people in the door and hope they decide to upgrade to the paid tier. The company isn’t shy about this.

    “We hope you’ll enjoy it so much that you’ll consider subscribing to Google Play Music to play without ads, take your music offline, create your own playlists, and listen to any of the 30 million songs in our library on any device and as much as you’d like,” says Roman.

    Another day, another free, ad-supported internet radio. Google is banking on the fact that people will be interested in its “expertly” crafted playlists.

    And of course, there’s still this in the pipeline.