Apple is set to unveil its new music streaming service at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, June 8.
The service, which will most likely be called Apple Music, could change the music game once again — just as Apple did back when it unveiled the iTunes digital music store.
The service is expected to cost the industry standard of $9.99 per month, and will offer some free features designed to entice potential customers. It will not, however, follow in Spotify's footsteps and offer a free tier riddled with advertising. According to reports, the company will instead provide a free 30-day trial.
The music streaming industry has had an interesting couple of years. Companies like Spotify and Pandora are still figuring out ways to be profitable without overdoing it in terms of advertising. Some experts suggest that streaming services need to reach a certain threshold of customers before they start turning serious profit.
Apple's new service will be built on its largest acquisition to date, Beats Music — which it acquired last year for a massive $3 billion. It will also offer music curation from famous DJs and celebrities around the world.
The new service will arrive over a decade after Apple totally revolutionized the music industry — charging 99 cents per song, swiftly becoming the largest music retailer in the world. While Apple may be a little late to the streaming game, the company has the support of both a loyal customer base and the massive funds to potentially offer the first majorly successful streaming service. Apple could again revolutionize the music industry.
Indeed, it would be surprising if Apple Music didn't end up being a huge success. With millions upon millions of people owning and regularly using Apple devices, Apple will most certainly take advantage of its customer base as leverage.
Many in the music industry are counting on Apple to bring streaming to the masses. The company could turn it into a profitable industry for music, which is seeing a decline in revenue when it comes to CDs and digital downloads. With 800 million user accounts in the iTunes store, Apple has a huge head start.
Of course, Apple will also have some hurdles. A considerable number of people have been getting their music for free over the past few years — meaning that Apple will have to offer a pretty compelling service to make users want to pay. Much of this will come down to ease of use and how cleanly the service works between different platforms, including operating systems other than Apple's own, like Android.
