For many music lovers, streaming Internet radio is nothing new – Spotify, Pandora and Deezer all offer ways for listeners to stream old favourites and discover new artists. Now, Apple is throwing its figurative hat into the digital music ring, announcing it will launch a free streaming radio service for Apple devices.
Introducing iTunes Radio
iTunes Radio will launch in the US in fall and will be a free, ad-supported service with over 200 initial built-in stations. The service will be built into iOS 7 for iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple TV, and iTunes on OS X.
The new feature will give users access to ‘Featured Stations’ and genre-focused stations based on the music users are already listening to and personalized according to their iTunes playlist.
Apple claims iTunes Radio will ‘evolve based on the music you play and download’, and makes it easy for users to create and customize stations based on their musical preferences.
iTunes Radio will also feature full Siri integration, with users being able to ask to tune to any of their favourite stations or genres, or to search for music similar to the song they’re listening to.
Users can tell Siri what they like and dislike, pause, skip, or stop play, and add songs to a customized wishlist to be downloaded via iTunes later.
Although iTunes Radio will feature regular ads between tracks, users wanting to avoid advertising interruptions can subscribe to iTunes Match – Apple’s cloud-based music library – to access an ad-free version.
The downside is that the service won't feature on-demand listening and playback - but, unsurprisingly, users will be able to purchase any song they hear with just one click of the mouse or tap of the touchscreen.
Apple already has a music streaming feature built in for iTunes for desktops and Apple TV, but the service doesn’t connect with the iTunes store and isn’t available for iOS. Apple doesn’t run any of the stations available; each one is maintained by a third party, and users can’t record or save any music played.
Apple vs. the competition
The Apple announcement comes a month after Google launched its own subscription music service, Google All Access. Google's service is linked to Google Play For Android, and allows users to stream both prior purchases and songs they haven't yet bought.
Google is also working on a streaming music service that can be integrated with YouTube, which has become the dominant source of music discovery among younger users.
So how does Apple stack up to other streaming music services available? It's hard to say this early, but the closest comparison would be Pandora Internet Radio, which offers similar features and currently has over 70 million active monthly users.
Like Apple's upcoming service,Pandora picks music based on a user's previous selections, such as artist or song choice. Users can rate the music offered with a thumbs up or thumbs down. Pandora uses detailed algorithms (based on its ' Music Genome Project') that determine which songs or artists are similar.
Apple's radio, however, will likely connect similar artists by using the massive amount of data the company collects through iTunes purchases, recommending music to users based on what other people are buying.
The other big difference is the business model of each service. iTunes radio will exist primarily to sell more music on iTunes, although advertising will likely see some revenue for Apple. Pandora sell ads and subscriptions, and has links for listeners to purchase music they're hearing, but doesn't have the incentive to push music sales on its subscribers.
Of course, while iTunes Radio will only be supported by Apple devices or iTunes, Pandora works across all major platforms and is available in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Spotify is another extremely popular service, with a much larger global reach than Pandora - it's currently available in over 30 countries. Although Spotify doesn't automatically create preference-based playlists, users are free to create, share and collaborate with others on playlists.
Spotify also integrates with Last.fm and social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and unlike iTunes Radio and Pandore, offers on-demand listening.
There's currently about 500 million iTunes accounts worldwide, so Apple already has an enormous customer base to target with iTunes Radio. Whether the service will appeal to long-time subscribers to digital music remains to be seen; the one-click option to purchase the song you're listening to is certainly convenient.
It's possible the mom-and-dad user base who aren't tech experts, but enjoy the simplicity of Apple products, will find this an easy-to-navigate way of discovering and playing new music - even if their kids find it less than innovative.
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