Apple Music will win the streaming war

OPINION: APPLE Music is the company’s attempt to win the streaming wars. Does it have what it takes? We think so.

Drake, Eddy Cue

OPINION

APPLE has finally announced its long awaited entry into the streaming music market, and like it did with iTunes, Apple Music will win this generation’s music war.

For $US9.99 a month, Apple wants to give you access to its music world. With that, you get a streaming music service, a streaming radio service, your existing music library and the traditional iTunes music store in the one app. It also builds upon Beats’ ability to learn your tastes and recommend songs it thinks you will love accordingly.

Like Spotify, there are around 30 million tracks for you to choose from, and for the first time for anything Apple, the service will be available on Android. Unlike Spotify however, your current iTunes library will be mixed in with your tracks streamed, so any holes Apple Music’s library might have can be filled with your own collection of bought songs.

There will be a social aspect to it called Connect, that lets artists upload music, photos and messages to their fans. Drake was shown off at the announcement today as the face of the new social network, showing Apple can recognise that U2 isn’t the way to impress the younger generations.

Eddy Cue, Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services got the crowd pumped for Apple Music.

Siri integration into the service also opens up some cool new features that its rivals lack, like asking Siri to “play the top track from summer 2005” or whatever else you want to find to bring those nostalgic tears to your eyes.

Apple is entering a market that is almost completely dominated by Spotify, but it’s only a very small market with huge areas to grow. At the moment, Spotify has 60 million users, with 15 million of those paid subscribers. 15 million is a tiny number when you compare that to the 700 million iPhones Apple has sold.

Of those 700 million, at least 500 million of those will be upgraded to Apple’s iOS 9, which gives them Apple’s Music pre-installed on their phone with three months free subscription. Of those phones, Apple needs only three per cent to continue on past the free trial period to equal Spotify’s paid customer base. Let’s not forget those potential Android customers also.

On your iPhone, the Apple Music app will become your music app, so everything about it will feel natural. The integration of music on your phone from the streaming service will feel like this huge library of music that you have in your music library anywhere. That simplicity and integration will get Apple Music over the line, and by the end of 2015, Apple, Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine will be the kings of the streaming world.