iTunes Radio, a late-arriving Internet radio initiative, once widely appraised as a “Pandora killer,” will end as a free, ad-supported service on January 29. On that date the lean-back listening service will become part of Apple Music’s monthly music subscription offering. Continue Reading
XAPPmedia published a special new report about Apple as a supplement to its usual quarterly ad load data. This focused study, which is the first from XAPPmedia to address a service by name, covers all of 2015 through August. Apple’s ad-supported streaming music property at the start of the year was iTunes Radio, which was then folded into Apple Music when it launched on June 30. Continue Reading
Apple is late to the on-demand party. It was late with MP3 players, too, and quickly took over that market. It was late with iTunes Radio, with no evident impact. There seems to be more supply for music subscriptions than demand. What are the competitive dynamics? Continue Reading
Research company MusicWatch publicly released data points from its Annual Music Study, measuring relative popularity among leading streaming music outlets YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, VEVO, and iTunes Radio. The timing anticipates Apple’s expected announcement of its new on-demand music platform. Continue Reading
Friday is a big day for tech aficionados, as the much-discussed Apple Watch will finally arrive in stores. A new Apple device, even one as divisive as the smartwatch, is always cause for big buzz. In this instance, one of the notable topics is which services that we’ve come to expect on iPhones will be making the transition to the wrist. Continue Reading
The New York Times captured a carload of anonymously sourced information about Apple’s music products. Apple’s refreshed music ecosystem will be unveiled this summer, according to earlier rumors. Continue Reading
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THIS WEEK: Streaming surpasses CD sales in 2014 RIAA report; iTunes Radio goes to programmatic sales; Rdio’s new social features; Rhapsody plays on Twitter; BBC seeks to reinvent radio. Continue Reading
Starting today, Apple is making digital ad buying easier and more targeted for marketers in iTunes Radio, the company’s non-interactive online radio service. One of the first outside partners to offer iTunes Radio to buyers is AdsWizz. iTunes Radio inventory is now available on AdWave, the company’s global audio ad marketplace. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Chris Price of New Slang Media writes about renowned DJ Zane Lowe leaving the BBC for Apple. If that represents a convergence of broadcast radio and Internet radio, the author — a fan of streaming audio — recommends five other lessons that online radio could learn from broadcast. Continue Reading
Zane Lowe, well known in Britain and around the world for his weeknight music-discovery radio show on the BBC, has taken a position at Apple in Cupertino. When a popular DJ quits his show and moves to one of the world’s leading technology companies, the news can be framed within the human-vs-machine argument which divides streaming music curation Continue Reading
ComScore’s latest data covered trends in the U.S. smartphone market, including an assessment of the most popular apps as of October 2014. Only two music apps make the top 15: Pandora with 41.6% reach and iTunes Radio/iCloud at 21.9% reach. Continue Reading
Installing Beats Music as a built-in iOS app creates headlines, and is an obvious maneuver, but it barely lessens the challenge faced by Apple in the brutal music subscription space. It will not, by itself, move the needle for Beats or Apple. A crucial new effort is needed, and Apple has not demonstrated creativity in the music space for years. Continue Reading