Apple is launching it’s music streaming contender tomorrow on Tuesday 30th June at 11am Eastern Time – which is about 4pm UK time. If you have an iDevice and an Apple ID you can nod your head to the beat of 30 millions songs through a 3 month trial; turning to a monthly subscription thereafter.
As users of streaming services we’re curious to see how Apple’s new service fares amongst already established rivals such as Spotify, but we’re just as intrigued to see how other apps like Soundcloud and Deezer react, as they support smaller lesser known (but just as talented) artists.
One of Apple Music’s trump cards is its radio service which has handpicked a range of DJ’s from around the world, including the ex BBC Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe, who recommended our good friend Ghostpoet’s album Shedding Skin as one to watch this year. Apple is also banking on a social feed for artists to keep fans locked onto the app, although after Apple’s last failed attempt at social networking we’ll reserve judgement on that for a few weeks at least.
Pricing for Apple Music in the UK strangely hasn’t been revealed yet, given the service launches tomorrow we’d like to know how much we’re expected to fork out should we be lured by Apple’s usual slick interface and app design.
Early reports predict £9.99 for the single user subscription and £14.99 for the family membership, although we hope it’s more like £8.99 and £12.99 respectively. At this pricing we think Spotify should be worried, as we’d definitely jump ship for those prices.
Let us know if you’re up for Apple Music, or if you’ll be ignoring all the kerfuffle with your ears firmly planted in Spotify/ Soundcloud playlists.
