Just like most Apple products, Apple Music isn’t the first of its kind in the market. Apps like Pandora, Spotify, iHeart Radio and many more have been dominating the music streaming market.

Jimmy Iovine took the stage for the first time as an Apple employee during the WWDC keynote event and shared details about Apple’s upcoming music streaming service. Apple Music will allow users to stream unlimited music, offer 24×7 global radio station and include social media integration for artists to connect with their fans.

Apple Music will recommend songs based on the music you own and offer hand-picked playlists that match your taste in music. This will allow users to discover great tracks that otherwise could go undiscovered.

Beats 1 will be integrated into the default Music app on iOS 9 and will mark Apple’s entry into the world of radio stations as it will offer a global 24×7 channel for the latest music, interviews and culture.

Another feature as a part of the new music streaming service is Connect. It’s where artists will be able to share unreleased demo tracks, acoustic version of the latest hit, video shot in the studio and much more.

Apple Music will be publicly available on June 30 on iOS and Android. The service will offer a generous three-month trial and post that it will cost $9.99 a month for an individual user and $14.99 a month for family plan.

Apple will unveil the new music streaming service rumored to be called iRadio at WWDC 2013 keynote event according to a new report published by The Wall Street Journal.

Apple has been long rumoured to enter the music streaming business, since they acquired an online music company, LaLa in 2010.  iRadio is expected to be a free to use service supported by iAds that will display image ads and stream audio ads. The music streaming service will support options to buy tracks that users wish to download from the iTunes music store.

The service will launch for customers in the US. Details about international rollout remain unclear at this point. Offering a free streaming service as opposed to offering a paid subscription is quite interesting since Apple has always refrained from the ad supported model.

The company has taken quite long to enter the music streaming business even as other services that began by offering apps on the App Store have become hugely popular. Many believe that establishing deals with the record labels was the biggest hurdle in rolling out the service and the company waited until the terms were favorable. Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet and Software services, is believed to have played a major role in getting all major record labels. One of the major points of differences in negotiating the deal had been been compensation for songs skipped by users, according to the report.

The highly anticipated new service—expected to be available only in the U.S.—will allow users to stream a radio-like channel of music based on their interests. It will be supported by text and audio ads from Apple’s iAd service, people familiar with the matter said. It will feature “Buy” buttons to drive downloads, they added.

The WSJ also reported on sources confirming the rumors about iOS 7 redesign featuring a new “flat” look. Apple is also looking at introducing new ways to share photos and videos.

The new iOS will also include new ways to share photos and videos with other iPhone users and other enhancements, these people said.

WWDC 2013 keynote event goes live today at 10 AM (Pacific Time) where the Cupertino, Calif. based company will unveil the future of software for iOS and OS X.

On Thursday, Twitter launched the music app that was nothing but a rumor for the past several weeks. Twitter released the app early Thursday, and called it Twitter #music, with a hashtag in the title to reflect the popular feature from the social networking site. The app integrates a number of other music streaming services such as Rdio and Spotify and also shows previews from iTunes.

All of the music in the app will give users a preview until they log into their Spotify Premium or Rdio account. Twitter also introduced the service on the web for users who stream music on their computers and for those who use Spotify or Rdio on the web on a regular basis. Twitter #music uses Twitter as its main source of music and aggregates the most popular emerging artists and songs and also utilizes a user’s follow lists to recommend other music that the user may like.

Twitter #music is very similar to something such as Apple’s Genius suggestions in iTunes, but uses other music streaming services and Twitter to aggregate and recommend new music. ABC News released more specific details on the Twitter #music app:

The Popular page shows you new music that’s trending across Twitter while the Emerging tab shows “hidden talent found in tweets.” While those two parts feed you information about what the collective Twitterverse is jamming to, the last two focus on who you follow and your personal music taste.

The Suggested tab shows artists you might like based on the artists you follow on the service and who they follow. And finally the #NowPlaying tab shows songs your friends are listening to or tweeting about. For instance, if your friend tweets that they are listening to a song by Justin Bieber, that song will show up on that page.

Twitter #music is now available as a free download on the App Store {Direct Link} and on the web.

{Via MacRumors}

Rumors about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launching a music streaming service, similar to Pandora have been around for several months now. However, these reports have become more solid in recent weeks, as more sources begin to back claims that the service may be arriving as early as this summer. According to a report from The Verge, negotiations between AAPL and record companies are moving forward, allowing for the company to begin shaping its new ‘iRadio’ music service.

Much has been written about Apple’s plan to launch a Pandora-esque service this year. Now multiple music industry insiders have told The Verge that significant progress has been made in the talks with two of the top labels: Universal and Warner. One of the sources said “iRadio is coming. There’s no doubt about it anymore.” Apple is pushing hard for a summertime launch.

Earlier in March, Apple was reportedly trying to compete with other services by offering half the royalty rate paid by Pandora. While Apple would normally control all aspects of the service, in this case, they need the record companies to allow them to use music.

If it weren’t for the record companies, Apple could have possibly launched the service much earlier, perhaps even at the end of last year. The two record companies that are reportedly making the most progress with negotiations are Warner and Universal. Apple is expected to launch new iPhone 5S / 6 this summer, so it is possible that both will launch in the same event, especially if the iPhone 5S refresh is incremental and not a major redesign.

{Via MacRumors}

Apple has been widely rumored to be working on subscription based music streaming service for iOS devices. When Apple purchased LaLa, many believed that the company would introduce a streaming service. However, the purchase turned out to be to acquire talent to develop iTunes Match service.

Evad3rs released their ‘evasi0n’ unthethered jailbreak for iPhone5 on Tuesday and now 9to5Mac points us to hidden radio icons in iOS 6.1 release. Jailbreaking the iPad with evasi0n and then going through the files in Music.app revealed references to “radio button” with icons bearing resemblance to radio streaming icon in iTunes. Further, it was found that the button files are labeled with “buy” in the filename.

Many news publications like Bloomberg and WSJ previously reported on rumors about Apple working on Pandora competitor and cited music label licensing deals as being one of the hurdles being faced by the company. If those rumors are to be believed and with the hidden radio icons being revealed in iOS 6.1 is any indication then we could be seeing Apple announcing a new music subscription service soon.

Apple could be looking at allowing users to stream music tailored to their taste using the genius data and then integrating it with the iTunes store to allow purchase of favourite tracks. iTunes music store was recently made available in 56 new countries and the Cupertino, Calif. based company could now be looking at launching a music streaming service.

Online music streaming services such as Spotify, rdio, and Pandora are dominating streaming music space, Apple has been rumored to be working on its own radio service similar to Pandora’s, now being called “iRadio” for lack of a better name. These rumors have been circulating around the web for some weeks now. Now in an interview with AllThingsD, Beats CEO and Interscope Chairman, Jimmy Iovine revealed that he had pitched the idea of a music subscription service to Steve Jobs in 2003.

Iovine was close friends with Jobs, having worked with him on multiple products and promotions with artists such as 50 Cent, Bono of U2, Mick Jagger, and even launching a special iPod for U2. Iovine says he is currently working on a music subscription service, not revealing any specific details about the project or what it is going to consist of.

In 2002, 2003, Doug [Morris, former Universal Music head] asked me to go up to Apple and see Steve. So I met him and we hit it off right away. We were really close. We did some great marketing stuff together: 50 Cent, Bono, Jagger, stuff for the iPod — we did a lot of stuff together.

But I was always trying to push Steve into subscription. And he wasn’t keen on it right away. [Beats co-founder] Luke Wood and I spent about three years trying to talk him into it. He was there, not there … he didn’t want to pay the record companies enough. He felt that they would come down, eventually.

I don’t know what [Apple media head] Eddy Cue would say — I’m seeing him soon — but I think in the end Steve was feeling it, but the economics…he wanted to pay the labels [for subscriptions], but [the fees were] not going to be acceptable to them.

Iovine did reveal that his service would be similar to Pandora, in that it would not provide users access to entire albums and artists as Spotify does and would aggregate music based on user’s preferences. Apple’s “iRadio” is expected to be similar to Iovine’s approach, although it could be possible that Iovine is working with Apple to help create the company’s music subscription service as the two have worked together in the past. Iovine was mentioned several times in Job’s biography, “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson in which Jobs himself talks about his friendship with the Beats Electronics chief.

{Via MacRumors}

Pandora, the popular music recommendation service, may soon have a competing service from Apple Inc. (AAPL) new report claims. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that AAPL is looking to introduce its own music streaming service, similar to Pandora, adding on to the iTunes structure in both OS X and iOS.

WSJ claims that “people familiar with the matter” suggest that the service would be integrated into Macs, the iPhone and the iPad and perhaps Windows PCs. This would give Apple continuing dominance in the music distribution industry and would help boost iTunes music sales.

Apple only recently initiated licensing negotiations with record labels for its putative service, and even if it does complete deals, it could be a matter of months when such a service might launch, according to these people.

The company has in the past contemplated and abandoned other interactive features, including a Spotify-like service that would have let users rent unlimited amounts of music for a fixed monthly fee. But people familiar with the current talks say they appear to be more serious than those previous tentative inquiries.

As on Pandora, the music would be interspersed with ads, in this case carried by Apple’s iAd platform, which syndicates ads to iPhone and iPad apps.

As with all of Apple’s deals with record labels and movie studios, the Cupertino company would be negotiating all licensing deals with the record labels. According to the report, Apple is still negotiating and likely won’t be unveiling the new service at the iPhone 5 media media event. Following WSJs report on the music service, the NYTimes also published its own report suggesting that there is, in fact, a music service for Apple in the works.

Apple’s service would likely take the form of a pre-installed app on Apple’s devices like iPhones and iPads and might be able to connect to a user’s iTunes account to judge his or her tastes.

A music service tailored specifically to iOS users, and one capable of obtaining a user’s preferences from their music libraries could potentially affect Pandora’s influence in the music market. With a music service, two powerful OS’ and the millions of iOS and Mac products out on the market, this could turn out to be a huge success for Apple.

{via MacRumors, Image Credit: CallingAllGeeks.org}

Music streaming service, Spotify, gained popularity in Europe before debuting in the United States last July, allowing users to stream music from major music labels on their Macs, PC’s, and portable devices. Spotify is one of the first streaming services to combine users music libraries, as well as online streaming and allow them to sync their devices.

Today we’re extremely proud to present our native iPad app in all its green-hued glory. Features include:

– Retina graphics for iPad – dazzling display, razor sharp images, richer colors
– Even easier to browse and explore Spotify’s entire 18 million* song catalogue
– New ‘Now Playing’ full-screen view with high-definition cover art
– Search for playlists, users and music – all from the same view
– Check out what’s hot and find trending playlists & songs amongst your friends
– Inbox grouped by user for easy searching
– Gapless playback and crossfade
– AirPlay integration

Spotify has long been available on the iPhone since its release, operating on a pricing model, as opposed to the free model on the desktop computer. On Tuesday, Spotify announced that their new iPad application is now available in the App Store, utilizing the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen. The app is available via an upgrade to the existing app, which will be downloadable as both an iPad and iPhone app.

Spotify Premium is currently offering a free 48-hour trial for new users , allowing them to extend for up to 30 days if they sign up on the website. Premium users who use the service on the iPad, iPhone, and other mobile devices are the option to sign up for a subscription for $9.99 per month.

{via MacRumors}

The publication believes that Apple will roll out iCloud as a free service for a limited time period for those customers who already buy music from iTunes which will allow them to upload their purchases to the cloud. Users will be able to later access their music from any web browser or an iOS device.

Eventually, the company will charge a subscription fee of $25/year for the same service. It is believed that the Cupertino based company could also be looking at ways to integrate advertisements into its services. However, it wasn’t clear if the ads will be applicable for paid users too.

We previously reported that Apple has reportedly signed licensing deals with four of the major music labels which include Warner Music Group, EMI Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Additionally, we are also hearing that users might be allowed to upload Movies and TV shows.

Are you excited about this years WWDC? Do you think Steve Jobs will surprise us with iPhone 5 / 4S announcement during his keynote presentation? Let us know what you think.

{via MacRumors}

Earlier today, Apple announced that Steve Jobs will take the stage at next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). They even took a step further, pre-announcing that Jobs will introduce the company’s “iCloud” service.

So far, any news on Apple’s iCloud service mentioned Apple striking deals with music labels and publishers, the idea of movies and TV shows were never really put in the spotlight. Now, CNET is reporting that Apple is working towards including movies and TV shows into their iCloud streaming service.

“In the past several weeks, Apple executives have stepped up their attempts to convince some of the major Hollywood film studios to issue licenses that would enable Apple to store its customers’ movies on the company’s servers, two sources close to the negotiations told CNET. Apple began discussing a cloud service with the studios over a year ago.”

The report also mentions Apple’s negotiations with the film studios are ongoing, but a problem with a major cable network, HBO, may delay the process to bring TV shows on board. This problem with HBO is an agreement between the cable channel and Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and NBC Universal that requires those studios to stop sales and distribution of their content whenever it is being aired on HBO. This may pose a problem with Apple as they strive to keep their services consistent and may also affect customers who would like to watch content using the service at any time.

It is uncertain at this point, where Apple stands on TV shows and movies as it is unlikely that they will strike a deal by next week’s announcement. TV content for iCloud is currently based entirely on speculation at this point, possibly stemming from Apple’s current “Multi-Pass” and “Season Pass” in iTunes which allows customers to purchase larger bundles of content at once. However, rumors about Apple’s inclusion of TV shows and movies are currently overshadowed by negotiations with music labels, looking to provide iTunes customers with content.

While TV Shows and Movies are a big part of Apple’s iTunes revenue stream, music labels have been in the works for Apple’s iCloud service and is likely to make an appearance before any other type of content.

On Tuesday Apple issued a press release where the company confirmed that during WWDC 2011 Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs will unveil Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud. The announcement came in as a surprise as Apple usually does not reveal major product / software announcements in a press release before the keynote event.

Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will kick off on Monday, June 06 at 10:00 a.m and Steve Jobs will be present for the keynote presentation to announce Apple’s “next generation software”.

It’s interesting to note that the press release very clearly mentions “iOS 5″ and “iCloud” as two out of the three major announcements. Previously, whenever Apple would hold an event to discuss the future of iOS the company never really specifically mentioned the version. Even though the rumor mill had been widely discussing Apple’s cloud services we were not expecting Apple to mention that it would be part of the keynote event in a press release.

It’s not clear why Apple PR chose to reveal these details however, one of the more obvious reasons could that the company probably wanted people to know what to expect from the event in order to avoid expectations regarding hardware. Obviously, Apple could still go ahead and announce the iPhone 5 / 4S.

We could just be seeing a preview of Apple’s “upcoming cloud services” and the service could be available as beta for the initial period and then roll out world wide in a few months.

We are expecting Mac OS X Lion to be available for download on June 06 while iOS 5 just like iCloud could be made available only to developers initially.

The next gen software for iOS devices is believed to revamp the notification system, introduce widgets and offer subscription based music streaming service.

Are you excited about Apple’s iCloud? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Spotify’s latest self-imposed deadline is the end of this year. Managers of the service say that before the year ends, they’ll finally have licensing deals in place with four largest record labels: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music. Despite these plans, several music industry sources say that that the service is facing an assortment of obstacles, and that there is little chance that it will arrive in the U.S. by December 31st.

One of their obstacles is rumoured to be Apple: some believe that the computer giant is worried what effect the free music service will have on its already flattening music sales through iTunes, despite it being the largest digital music store in the country. CNET reports that Apple execs have warned music labels at a meeting in Los Angeles that “they had serious doubts about whether Spotify’s business model could ever generate significant revenues of profits.”

The Cupertino company could also be worried that Spotify will affect the success of the cloud-based subscription service they are supposedly planning to launch. Plans for this service have been backed up by the giant data-centre Apple is currently building in North Corolina.

Apple may have reason to be worried, however: Spotify is already a huge hit in many parts of the world, and the €10 its customers pay each month for the premium service isn’t very expensive. The service also boasts a social aspect, which is way ahead of Apple’s Ping – the main reason being that you can listen in full, for free, to any song a friend shares with you.
Whether Spotify succeeds in the U.S. or not, it will be damaging to iTunes: if the service is a huge success, it’s competition – if it’s a major flop, Apple will have trouble convincing the record labels to sign up to its own streaming service.