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Apple Music may mark Apple's return to the music throne

Ondrej Holzman
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Apple has a big day on Tuesday. A new music streaming service, Apple Music, is being launched, which may decide the future of the California company in the music world. That is, where it has revolutionized over the last decade or so, and now for the first time it finds itself in a slightly different position – catching up. But they still hold many trumps in their own hands.

It's actually a bit of an unconventional position. We've been used to Apple for the past fifteen years that when it came up with something new for itself, it was usually new for most everyone else. Whether it was iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad. All of these products caused more or less of a stir and determined the direction of the entire market.

However, Apple is not the first to come up with Apple Music, i.e. the streaming music service. Not even as second, third or fourth. It comes practically last, with a rather significant delay. For example, Spotify, the biggest competitor, has been operating for seven years. Therefore, it will be extremely interesting to see how Apple can influence a market that it does not actually create, as it has done many times before.

Pioneer of the music industry

Apple used to often and fondly refer to itself as a "computer company". This is no longer the case today, the biggest profits flow to Cupertino from iPhones, but it is important to remember that Apple does not only make hardware. After the arrival of the new millennium, it could easily be referred to as a "music company", and almost fifteen years later, Tim Cook and co. will strive for this status. again.

Not that music has stopped playing a role at Apple, it remains rooted in Apple's DNA, but Apple itself knows very well how quickly times change, and what started in 2001 and gradually developed into a hugely profitable business needs revision. Even without her, Apple would certainly not lose its relevance in the music world for many years to come, but it would be a mistake if it did not join the trend started by someone else this time.

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But let's go back to the aforementioned year 2001, when Apple began to transform the music industry, which was then moving in uncertainty. Without his steps, Rdio, another competitor, would never have been able to ironically welcome Apple into the field of streaming music. No streaming would exist without Apple.

The arrival of the first iTunes in 2001 and shortly after the release of the iPod did not yet mark a revolution, but it pointed the way. The year 2003 was key to the huge boom. iTunes for Windows, iPod with USB synchronization support and the equally important iTunes Music Store are released. At that moment, Apple's music world opened up to everyone. It was no longer limited to just Macs and FireWire, which was an unfamiliar interface to Windows users.

Also very important in the whole expansion of Apple was his ability to convince record companies and music publishers that it was inevitable to start selling music online. Although the managers at first completely rejected it, they were afraid that it would end their entire business, but then when they saw how Napster worked and piracy was rampant, Apple was able to sign contracts with them to open the iTunes Music Store. It just laid the groundwork for music today - streaming it.

Do it right

Apple is only now entering the field of streaming music. So, like some of his other products, he doesn't come up with something innovative, thereby breaking the established order, but this time he chooses his other favorite strategy: to do something not as quickly as possible, but above all correctly. It must be said that Apple really took their time this time. Services such as Spotify, Rdio, Deezer or Google Play Music have been operating for several years.

For example, Sweden's Spotify, the market leader, currently reports 80 million active users, which is why Apple realized that in order to realistically reach even these existing users of streaming services, they had to come up with something at least as good, but ideally even better.

That's why the Californian giant, despite endless media speculation, didn't rush the arrival of its new service. That's why he made the biggest investment in his history a year ago when he bought Beats for three billion dollars. Now it turns out that one of the main targets was Beats Music, the streaming service created by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. It is these two who are one of the key men behind Apple Music, which is built on the foundations of Beats, albeit as much as possible integrated into the Apple ecosystem.

And here we come to the biggest trump card that Apple holds in its hands and may ultimately prove to be absolutely essential to the success of the new service. Keeping it simple with Spotify as the main competitor, Apple Music doesn't offer much else or extra. Both services have probably virtually identical (except for Taylor Swift) catalogs of over 30 million songs, both services support all major platforms (Apple Music on Android will arrive in the fall), both services can download music for offline listening, and both services cost (at least in the United States) the same $10.

Apple didn't lose all its trump cards by waiting

But then there are two major things where Apple will crush Spotify from day one. Apple Music comes as part of an already existing and well-functioning ecosystem. Anyone who buys a new iPhone or iPad will have an Apple Music icon ready on their desktop. Tens of millions of iPhones alone are sold every quarter, and especially for those who haven't heard of streaming yet, Apple Music will represent the easiest entry to this wave.

The initial three-month trial period, during which Apple will let all customers stream music for free, will also help. This will certainly attract a lot of users from competitors, especially those who are already connected to the apple ecosystem. Without having to make any initial investment, they can easily try Apple Music alongside Spotify, Rdia or Google Play Music. It will also appeal to listeners who haven't yet given up their crammed iTunes libraries in favor of streaming. In conjunction with iTunes Match, Apple Music will now offer them maximum convenience within a single service.

The second thing, which is not so important for users, but from the point of view of the Apple vs. Spotify is also quite interesting is that while for Spotify music streaming is a vital business, for Apple it is just a drop in the ocean of products and services that bring profit. Simply put: if Spotify doesn't find a long-term sustainable model to make enough money from streaming music, it's going to be in trouble. And that this question is often addressed. Apple doesn't have to be so interested in its service, although of course it doesn't do it to make money. Above all, it will be another piece of the puzzle for him, when he will offer the user another function within his own ecosystem, for which he will not have to go elsewhere.

According to many - and Apple certainly hopes so - but in the end Apple Music will be differentiated and play a role in people's decision about which service to choose something else: the radio station Beats 1. If you put the features of Spotify and Apple Music side by side in a table, you'll find it's only different here—Apple wants to push itself with a radio that suits the fact that it's 2015.

Radio of the modern age

The idea to create a modern radio station came from Trent Reznor, the frontman of Nine Inch Nails, whom Apple also brought on board as part of the acquisition of Beats. Reznor held the position of chief creative officer at Beats Music and also had a major say in the development of Apple Music. The Beats 1 station launches tomorrow in the early hours of our time with great anticipation as everyone watches to see if Apple's 21st century radio can succeed.

The main protagonist of Beats 1 is Zane Lowe. Apple pulled him from the BBC, where this forty-one-year-old New Zealander had a very successful program on Radio 1. For twelve years, Lowe worked in Britain as a leading "tastemaker", that is, as one who often set musical trends and discovered new faces. He was one of the first to draw attention to popular artists such as Adele, Ed Sheeran or Arctic Monkeys. Apple now hopes to have the same influence on the music industry and the chance to reach millions of listeners around the world.

Beats 1 will function as a classical radio station, whose program will be determined by three main DJs, in addition to Lowe, Ebro Darden and Julie Adenuga. However, that will not be all. Even the most popular singers such as Elton John, Pharrell Williams, Drake, Jaden Smith, Josh Home from Queens of the Stone Age or the British electronic duo Disclosure will get their space on Beats 1.

It will therefore be a completely unique model of a radio station, which should correspond to today's times and today's possibilities. “For the last three months we have been desperately trying to come up with a new word that is not radio. We didn't make it,” he admitted in an interview for The New York Times Zane Lowe, who has the utmost faith in the ambitious project.

According to Lowe, Beats 1 should reflect the very fast-changing world of pop and be the channel through which new singles will spread the fastest. That's another advantage of Beats 1 - it will be created by people. This is in contrast, for example, to Pandora, a popular internet radio station in the United States, which offers music selected by computer algorithms. It was the human factor that Apple promoted significantly during the presentation of Apple Music, and Zane Lowe and his colleagues should be proof that it is worth it on Beats 1.

In addition to Beats 1, Apple Music will also have another set of stations (the original iTunes Radio) divided by mood and genre, just like Pandora, so listeners will not necessarily have to listen to shows and interviews of different DJs and artists if they are only interested in music. Nevertheless, in the end, the selection of music by real connoisseurs, DJs, artists and other living beings could also be one of the draws of Apple Music.

Beats Music has already been praised for its success in presenting music to users based on their tastes. It's something that others, including Spotify, can do, but American users (Beats Music was not available elsewhere) often admitted that Beats Music was somewhere else in this regard. Moreover, we can be sure that Apple has further worked on these "human algorithms" to offer the truly best results.

We won't know about Apple Music's success right away. Tuesday's launch of the much-anticipated streaming service is just the beginning of the journey to get as many users as possible, but Apple certainly has a lot of aces up its sleeve that could soon surpass Spotify's current 80 million users. Whether it's its perfectly functioning ecosystem, its unique Beats 1 radio, or the simple fact that it's an Apple service, that always sells well these days.

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