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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Nadia Khomami

Apple Music streaming service and Beats 1 radio launch day – as it happened

Beats 1 will kick off with former Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe interviewing Eminem
Beats 1 will kick off with former Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe interviewing Eminem Photograph: BBC/Ray Burmiston

Okay, while Apple Music continues to inspire or irritate you, we’re going to sign off. You can still tweet us your thoughts but I think we all need some time to crawl into a dark room and think about what’s happened here today. Thanks for the comments.

Here are a few verdicts on Apple Music and Beats 1 Radio from tech commentators.

The Verge’s Dieter Bohn writes:

Our first impressions are that although there are some unavoidable places where you can get lost, Apple Music has pulled off the basics of what you’d expect from a streaming music service. You can find the music you want (including, yes, Taylor Swift), and if you just want Apple’s curators to help you stop being An Old who only listens to Built to Spill because he stopped paying attention to music 10 years ago, you can do that, too. I’m looking forward to finding more.

Wired point out that Lowe is continuing his Radio 1 habit of double-playing, and focuses on the celebrity line-up of forthcoming Beats 1 shows.

The first actual exclusive Beats 1 played was Freedom from Pharrell Williams. Lowe liked the song so much he played it twice -- something he had a habit of doing over on Radio One. Williams will be hosting his own show on Beats1 called Other Tone, which will be co-hosted by Cara Delevingne. Justin Timberlake is set to be the first Other Tone guest.

The most annoying things about Beats 1 are the incessant stings at the beginning, middle and end of every song that do not let you forget that you are listening to Beats 1. There were also two very noticeable glitches in the first hour that caused the audio to jump back ten seconds or so and play over. Let’s hope Apple irons out whatever caused them, as that could get annoying very quickly.

The best thing about Beats 1’s first hour was the fact that Lowe played Bully’s ‘Feels Like’.

Over at Mashable, Christina Warren has given her verdict.

Much of the Apple Music experience really is Beats Music. And this is a good thing. I always thought Beats had the best discovery mechanism of the streaming services. With live radio, human curated playlists and access to your iTunes purchase history, I’m really liking Apple Music.

Will it replace Spotify for diehard subscribers? That’s a more complicated question – for now, however, the For Me section alone has made me excited about music for the first time in a long time. And that’s a good thing.

Meanwhile, follow all of the Guardian’s Apple Music coverage at: theguardian.com/technology/apple-music.

Zane Lowe’s show is over.

New York based British DJ Julie Adenuga has now taken over. Business Insider has some information for those who are unfamiliar with the DJ:

In 2010, Adenuga joined London underground radio station Rinse FM. She didn’t have any prior radio experience, and freely admitted that she and her co-host Sian Anderson “didn’t have a clue what we were doing.” But this didn’t deter the duo: They would “just stop and start tunes. We had no DJ experience, but we just played the music and were talking rubbish. It worked. Luckily.”

After sharing the lunchtime slot with Anderson for about a year, Adenuga took a short break, Fader reports — before returning in 2012 for the 4-7pm drivetime slot.

Here’s a video of Adenuga explaining how she got started:

Adenuga is one of London’s “most vital tastemakers”, according to Apple.

Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus isn’t too happy about having to follow himself.

Oh.

For those interested in audio quality, Apple Music is standardised at 256kbps. (Spotify is available at 96kpbs for normal users and 160kbps and 320kpbs for Premium subscribers).

It’s worth noting that Taylor Swift is the first option on the service’s ‘new’ music tab.

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift Photograph: The Guardian

Seems like the popstar’s mini face-off with the company paid off. You can read former Guardian tech editor Charles Arthur’s take on why Apple still calls the tunes - despite Taylor’s triumph - here.

Updated

Oops... someone at Apple has mixed up their London postcodes.

Let’s hope that Zane Lowe’s interview with Eminem (to be broadcast tomorrow) touches the great heights of his meeting with Kanye West. Brief reminder:

If you signed up to Apple Music but don’t want to continue with a paid membership once your free trial ends, do the following:

  • Tap the red profile silhouette on the top left hand corner of your screen
  • Select ‘View Apple ID’
  • Select ‘Manage’ under ‘Subscription’
  • Apple Music should be listed under ‘Your subscription’. Below that is ‘Renewal Options’, where there is an option to turn auto-renewal off.

If you don’t turn auto-renewal off, the card associated with your Apple ID will be charged monthly following the end of your free trial.

Here’s a playlist of all of the tunes played on Beats 1 so far, via umm... Spotify :-/

Updated

My colleague Stuart Dredge has written about what the launch of Apple Music means for the music industry:

The Apple Music launch represents a major upheaval for Apple’s digital music business, which until now has focused on selling music downloads through the company’s iTunes Store.

The store remains open, but Apple is beginning the process of migrating digital music buyers to paying a monthly subscription for access to its entire catalogue of music.

The base for Apple Music was Beats Music, the streaming service bought by Apple as part of its $3bn acquisition of Dre and Iovine’s Beats Electronics company in 2014. They, as well as Beats Music chief executive, Ian Rogers, and chief creative officer, Trent Reznor, have been prime movers in Apple Music along with longtime iTunes boss Eddy Cue.

The new service’s roots go further back than that, however. In 2009, Apple bought a streaming music startup called Lala, and used its technology for the launch in 2011 of its iTunes Match cloud locker for storing music and accessing it from multiple devices.

That service continues as a part of Apple Music, although its maximum storage limit will increase from 25k songs to 100k songs later in the year, as part of Apple’s iOS 9 software update.

Meanwhile, Apple’s non-live radio stations made their debut in its iTunes Radio service, which launched in the US in 2013, but never expanded overseas. By contrast, Apple Music will launch in more than 100 countries.

Apple faces considerable competition in the streaming market which, according to industry body the IFPI, had more than 41 million paying subscribers in 2014, and a further 100 million accessing free tiers of streaming services like Spotify.

That company is the largest player in the market, having recently announced that it has 75 million active users, with 20 million of them paying for its service.

“We don’t really do anything else other than selling music, so we’re the most aligned with the music industry,” Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek recently told the Guardian.

Deezer claims 16 million users including 6 million subscribers, while paid-only service Rhapsody reached 2.5m subscribers early in 2015.

All these companies will be trying to crack the biggest challenge in the streaming world: convincing musicians and songwriters that their model can more than make up for the decline in sales of their music both in physical and download form – with a number of artists having complained about paltry streaming royalty cheques.

The streaming services’ efforts to bring them round are complicated by the fact that they do not pay artists directly, but rather the labels that represent them, and whose contracts with those creators dictate the percentage of streaming income that finds its way to them.

Some of you are reporting the software update is still not available on desktops.

“What a frantic hour, that was so much fun,” says Zane. “So much of radio and broadcasting can be one way traffic, let’s open this up. The last few weeks have been crazy, there were times when we didn’t think we could get this on air, when we couldn’t communicate with New York... the dedication of everyone involved has got us on air.

“We’re dedicated to exposing and discovering new music... and to tipping our hat to the legends.” He adds that playlists will be put in one hour bursts which will be broadcast around the world, from LA, London, and New York.

Pharrell’s show, Undertone, will air on Saturday. It will feature Cara Delevigne as a co-host, and the first show will also have Justin Timberlake on as a guest.

Guardian readers’ reactions are coming in over Twitter, to both Beats 1 and the app. Here’s a selection:

Updated

A lot of people making the point that the app’s s UI (user interface) is pretty poor, and I’d have to agree. Hopefully it will improve with a new beta. At the moment it looks a little…GeoCities. Plus too many submenus IMHO.

So are artists actually going to promote new music by other musicians on iTunes connect or will they merely promote their own previously-released material? A quick glance at Arctic Monkeys’ page reveals that their top songs are by none other than Arctic Monkeys. This might change though...

Arctic Monkeys connect
Arctic Monkeys connect Photograph: The Guardian

Zane Lowe plays world exclusive of Pharrell's Freedom

Zane is now playing the first “world record” - a regular Apple Music exclusive. Today’s exclusive is Pharrell Williams’ Freedom. It’s the first time the song has been broadcast anywhere (though fans will be familiar with it via Pharrell’s live shows). It’s pretty funky. It starts with a piano riff and includes backing singers chanting “la la la”.

Updated

Quick reminder that Apple has launched a Tumblr featuring full schedules of what’s to come on Beats 1 Radio, including the Eminem interview, St. Vincent’s and Josh Homme’s shows.

apple music tumblr
applemusic.tumblr.com Photograph: Screenshot

No Spring King, you’re not hallucinating, your day has come!

Niggling thought while AC/DC blare through my headphones: my phone battery won’t last the night.

“For those of you that don’t know, this is a good day,” Zane says. He’s referring to today’s news that after three years of having their music on iTunes, AC/DC announced that their back catalogue will now be available via Apple Music, as well as other streaming services such as Spotify, Deezer, and Rdio.

Updated

The Zane Lowe Eminem interview is being broadcast tomorrow. Just music today. So we’ll have to wait to see how censored or uncensored interviews will be. Throw in a few swear words, go on.

It appears that while we were busy watching an iOS 8.4 buffering screen, some Apple fans had the pleasure of listening to Zane Lowe’s warm up routine. Business Insider reports that before 5pm BST listeners could hear:

“What about now? I’m ready when you are.”

“You’re getting us?”

“I’m hearing you through one way.”

“Talk again please.”

“Test.”

“Anything, Jason? Test, test.”

“OK, say that again.”

“I’m lowering it. I’m turning on my own mic. I’m turning the hub program up and down.”

“Right.”

“Huh?”

“Test, test, test, test, 37 minutes, test. How’s that?”

“Hello, hello, OK. Look at that, that’s crazy.”

The Guardian’s Stuart Dredge has attempted to use one of the key social features of Apple Music – curating playlists that can be shared and played by other people.

You can have a go at listening in using the link below:

Listen to Songs to Love in 2015 by Stuart on @AppleMusic.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/songs-to-love-in-2015/idpl.63f8788d1581482eb5c72d069748007f

It’s not a bad playlist either, featuring some Beck, Django Django and Sweet Billy Pilgrim.

Dredge's playlist
Dredge’s playlist Photograph: Mark Smith

Updated

Are you a “youth”? If so, what are your thoughts on Zane Lowe?

Kids are far more mature these days anyway, right?

It’s nice to hear Zane back on the airwaves again. “To the 100 countries broadcasting around the world, to those hungry for music, into the unknown we go.”

Second song: Beck’s Dreams, which Zane says “embodies creativity”.

Beats 1 launches

Zane Lowe has just come on the radio station. “We spent three months building this radio station and now we can build no more,” he said, adding that there’s one song the team has kept coming back to. “This band put this EP out a few months ago... it’s not about fanfare, fireworks and hangover the next day, it’s about quality and consistency... from now on, we’re always on.”

The song is City by Manchester band Spring King.

Updated

Our colleague Olly Osborne has his paws on Apple Music and is checking out the genre categories. His verdict? “Shit and always have been”. On the fence, then.

Apple genres
Apple genres Photograph: The Guardian

I’m finally in! Apple is suggesting I check out Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand. I clearly never got out of 2005.

The struggle is real.

Here’s another screengrab of the ‘For You’ tab – courtesy of my colleague Mark Smith, who seems to be tapped by Apple’s algorithm as being a soft rock / folk kind of guy.

For You
For You Photograph: Mark Smith

Updated

Guardian writer Stuart Dredge has pointed out that in the Apple Connect section you can see which artists you’re automatically following because you have them in your collection. Apple gives you the option to unfollow the artists if you want.

No doubt this button will be getting a lot of taps.

u2
U2 Apple Photograph: The Guardian

For those still waiting to check out the app, console yourselves with great quips like this.

Some of you are on it already. Send me your experiences!

Updated

Another promo video from Apple (still downloading).

Aha, this is what the Apple Music app will look like on your desktop.

A writer at recode got to preview the service. Here is a little segment from his review:

Apple has built a handsome, robust app and service that goes well beyond just offering a huge catalog of music by providing many ways to discover and group music for a very wide range of tastes and moods.

But it’s also uncharacteristically complicated by Apple standards, with everything from a global terrestrial radio station to numerous suggested playlists for different purposes in different places. And the company offers very little guidance on how to navigate its many features. It will take time to learn it. And that’s not something you’re going to want to do if all you’re looking for is to lean back and listen.

The service has three big strengths, in my view. First, it smoothly integrates the existing library of iTunes songs you own with the much larger catalog of music you are merely, in effect, renting. For instance, you can create mixed playlists of songs you bought from iTunes or ripped from CDs with streaming music. And you can make them all playable offline, even though they live in the cloud.

Second, while the service does use some algorithms, it suggests numerous playlists, albums and songs curated by 300 human editors, based on your tastes. These curators include editors employed by Apple, and such well-known music publications as Rolling Stone, Downbeat and Pitchfork. This was a key feature of the Beats Music service Apple acquired last year.

Third, while Apple’s $10 monthly fee per user is both standard — and for some, pricey — the company is offering a family plan that cuts the price dramatically. For $15 a month, up to six people can be subscribers, each with his or her own individual experience. There’s also a three-month free trial.

A familiar screen for millions right now …

The dreaded iOS downloading screen
The dreaded iOS downloading screen … Photograph: Mark Smith

While we wait, here are some promotional videos from Apple for Beats 1. It’s some cool people looking even cooler in black and white.

Updated

iOS 8.4 is available to download now. I’m trying on my iphone. Have you got it yet?

Updated

Beats 1: your guide to the launch

Apple Music’s youth-orientated radio station will be launching at 5pm BST today. It’ll be fronted by former Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe and will broadcast 24-hours a day. The station is the brainchild of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Raznor and will be staffed by a host of other employees poached from the BBC’s flagship music radio channel.

A sneak-preview of some pre-recorded content suggested an eclectic mix of programming, including shows such as Zane Lowe’s The World Record, which features one song a day the DJ will focus on, an interview-based show called Gratitude, which sees an artist talk about other musicians who influenced them, and a chart show counting down the top songs of the week.

Overnight, Beats 1 content will switch to artist-led shows, hour-long features such as St Vincent’s Mixtape Deliver Service and Dr Dre’s The Pharmacy, where the musician gets control of the decks for a period.

Despite the pre-recorded nature of some of the shows, the station will be broadcasting as-live, and there will be no catch-up service for those who miss something. The channel is due to kick off with Lowe interviewing rapper Eminem.

Updated

Everything you need to know about Apple Music

Taylor Swift put her album 1989 on Apple Music – after the company agreed to pay her for it.
Taylor Swift put her album 1989 on Apple Music – after the company agreed to pay her for it. Photograph: Ross Gilmore/Getty Images for TAS
  • There is a three-month free trial, after which you’ll have to pay £9.99 a month in the UK or $9.99 in the US (Australian prices are yet to be announced). That’s the same price as a Spotify premium membership - but the difference with Spotify is that you’ll be able to listen to new tracks by Pharrell Williams (whose upcoming song Freedom will be available exclusively on Apple) and anything by Taylor Swift, who famously pulled all her music from Spotify earlier this year.
  • In fact, it was an open letter from Swift - one of the biggest selling artists on the planet - to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook a couple of weeks ago that led to the company doing a U-turn and agreeing to pay artists royalties for songs streamed during the first three months of Apple Music. (After Swift’s post, it took only hours for Apple’s head of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue to announce on Twitter: “Apple Music will pay artist [sic] for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period... We hear you [Taylor Swift] and indie artists. Love, Apple.”)
  • Apple is offering a “family plan” for up to six accounts for £15/$15 a month. Spotify has something similar, but each additional user costs £4.99 a month for up to four extra users.
  • Apple Music will also include Beats 1, a global radio station broadcast from studios in London, New York and Los Angeles. It will feature presenters including Zane Lowe and shows from the likes of Drake, Elton John, St Vincent, Disclosure and Dr Dre - who co-founded the Beats headphones business with Jimmy Iovine before the pair sold it to Apple last year. The station will be available without an Apple Music subscription.
  • IOS users can use Siri to add new songs and albums to their Apple Music library. Owners of an Apple Watch can also sync music to it and play it – regardless of whether a paired iPhone is nearby.
  • Apple Music is promising to help users discover new music by offering “suggestions from our experts who know and love music”. There will also be playlists on offer from Apple Music editors, as well as writers from Rolling Stone, Q, Pitchfork, Mojo, DJ magazine and Shazam.
  • In addition, the service will offer iTunes Connect, which allows artists to set up profile pages where they can share tracks, videos and other content with their fans. The reason for this? “When musicians are free to express themselves directly to their fans, it’s a powerful thing,” Apple says.

Updated

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Guardian’s liveblog of the launch of Apple Music -the new music streaming service from Apple.

The service, which launches at 4pm BST today, offers access to tens of millions of songs on demand over the internet on iOS devices - iPhones, iPads, Macs and PCs (with Apple TV and Android devices following this year).

Stay with me as I try and keep you up to date with all the latest news and analysis from the first few hours of the launch. As always, don’t feel shy to share your thoughts or direct me towards anything you think I should be covering - either in the comments section or by tweeting me @nadiakhomami.

As one social media user has put it:

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