By: Kaitlyn Magnano
Spotify, Pandora, and Rhapsody are a few of the popular music streaming services used daily by thousands. Apple, the biggest retailer of music, has recently teamed up with Beats to develop its own subscription streaming music service. In addition to developing a streaming music service, Apple is also planning on enhancing ITunes and ITunes Radio.
More than a decade ago, Apple helped create the digital music industry with music downloads. Apple may be the biggest retailer in the music industry, but they have recently fallen behind now that the music industry has shifted from downloading to streaming. I think that with the increase of music streaming, Apple has no choice but to develop a streaming music service, allowing it to grow even more as a company. Apple being absent from streaming has allowed other companies, like Spotify, to go ahead in the music streaming industry. Though Apple is still the crucial marketing partner for the music industry, not being part of this industry has allowed other rival companies to get ahead, leaving them to play “catch-up”. With music streaming becoming so popular, the merge between Apple and Beats will have a great impact on Apple as an overall business, whether it is successful or not.
One of the ideas that Apple brainstormed is to enhance ITunes Radio, which can possibly be tailored to listeners in regional markets. Along with that, last month a former BBC radio D.J, Zane Lowe, who is also a new player on ITunes Radio, announced that he would join Apple in Los Angeles. Apple is also hoping to get more new “splashy” albums available on ITunes before they are released anywhere else. Apple’s idea to have no free tier is one of the crucial differences between the streaming services of Spotify and Apple, which will put them on top.
Apple may be behind in the streaming service industry, but they are still the largest retailer of music. By teaming up with Beats and developing a streaming music service to rival competitors, like Spotify, this will both help and allow them to grow overall as a business.
Marketing Discussions 
Apples market is in selling music for downloads i think there may be to many big contenders in the music streaming business right now for them to play catchup. Apple isn’t known for having free downloads and Spotify,Pandora, and Sound cloud all offer a free version and a premium version to there customers. Apples idea to be a big shot in the music streaming business with a no free tier is maybe what could hold them back in the streaming business. Many people may have stopped using the iTunes library because it got to expensive and there are so many free downloadable options instead of paying two dollars for each song.
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I too agree with William. Apple has always been the big guy in the business and even now don’t really have much catching up to do. Another way of putting it is like a race and for Apple a competitor has started to gain some ground on the leader and being the leader Apple will just continue to try and grow their lead. People want the lowest cost and for music (although it may be at a risk of illegally downloading, or even streaming) there is a free way to listen to any song you’d like whether it be spotify, youtube, etc. For apple to create a streaming service (at a cost) it could potentially bring in customers but at the same time, would it be worth the effort? If it just ends up costing people more money why would they switch from what they are already doing? I just think that Apple should continue to stay on top of the market (as they are with pretty much everything) but take into consideration how and why the services people use now work for them. And instead of making a better service for a cost, possibly throw it in an I-device as a free app and use that as a marketing strategy to get people to buy an Ipad, Iphone, Ipod, etc.
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With apple teaming up with beats music I personally think it is a good team sense beats is know for the good sound quality and apple will need further help with keeping up with the streaming network. So, with Apple creating a new streaming service it will most likely start with a decent customer base because of the loyal customers they have through iTunes and their brand. But the charging of ten dollars per month seems extreme sense you can get free service through spotify or pandora. Personally I think apple should be doing test trials or informing their customer base more about their new service and make it more appealing/different to the people sense we have to purchase it.
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Honestly, I feel that the only reason this won’t take off is because of the lack of a free trial. They are also entering the market much later than Spotify and Pandora, which puts them at an already disadvantage. This will work for a few years, but in the end it will be beaten out by Spotify and Pandora.
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It seemed inevitable that Apple would enter the music streaming industry since it seems to be the only way people will actually pay for music since the decline of music downloading. Although it seems like everything Apple comes out with is a success, my opinion goes back and forth on this one. There are so many streaming services already available but Apple is trying to compete by lowering the price even more than it already is. Music streaming barely creates revenue for musicians and by lowering the price even more, they are taking a step away from what the music industry is trying to do which is to find a way for people to pay for music.
Although they’re lowering the price in order to get people to use their services instead of others like Spotify, I think if they could find a way to to raise to price and help compensate artists better.I definitely think people will pay more for music streaming if they’re offered a premium service which is what Apple is supposedly doing. They have strong brand loyalty and are working on a way to get popular artists to release their music to Apple before releasing it to other services. Also, the acquisition of Zane Lowe is definitely important for their success. Having a well-known and respected radio presenter and music curator working on programming could be what differentiates Apples service from others.
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I also agree with Olivia that Apple needs to discover the streaming market because is the the only way that people actually buy music. The thing that Apple is trying to do is lowering the price, but i think its gonna be really hard because it is very low already. I think it is actually a good idea from Apple because the library is very expensive compared to the others,and Apple is trying to jump back on top of the market.
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I personally feel that this was only bound to happen. Apple has their hands in everything today. From cars to farms and watches to apps. If there is a way for there to be a technological innovation and adavnces in an industry apple will be there. With streaming music becoming so large over the last few years it is no shock that they are trying to get into the market. After they began to team with Beats it was only a matter of time until they started something like this. They will have some very stff competiton though with Pandora and Spotify already having a major market share.
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Although I believe that Beats and ITunes are successful products and services, I think that having a streaming music service that had no free trial will only target a certain market group. Many users of ITunes and Beats spend significant amounts of money on their music and care about the quality and the status of where they are getting their products. But many, only care about hearing the music and will do that through other sources such as Pandora and Spotify. Which will be a hard target to reach with no free trial option.
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I think that anything Apple gets their hands on turns out to be successful. Yes there is a big market in music streaming such as Pandora, Spotify, and the new upcoming Tidal but Beats by Dre are the go to headphones. On top of that the sound quality is top notch but just as Apple’s products go they are not cheap. I’m interested to try out this streaming myself.
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I like the idea of Apple moving into the “music streaming” market. I think it is about time Apple offers this kind of feature, with it being one of the leading music services today. With Spotify premium becoming more and more popular, Apple must find ways to keep themselves at the top.
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Apple is a top brand among music products, same as beats. Beats has a strong reputation among the music industry. When Beats and Apple joined together to produce a better music streaming service, it caught everyone’s attention. Beats and Apple sure show a strong position on the market which can be overwhelming to other companies. Apple is smart partnering up with beats on “music streaming” because beats already has a good system behind their back.
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I believe this is a good strategy for Apple and Beats because they are not very well known and can gain new markets for both, being loyal apple users will use Beats and loyal Beat users will begin to use Apple because they trust their brand. I think Apple needs to innovate in the area of streaming music because through iTunes you need to buy everything song you want to listen to which can be expensive, so have a set price and having the same music is a better idea. As long as their streaming service keeps the simplicity of iTunes they should not have many problems. But sense it will cost money they will have their loyal customers but they will want to reach another market that is streaming for free now, so Apple and Beats will need to offer something only they will have in order to convert these consumers.
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Apple teaming with Beats is a great move in my opinion. Apple is widely known for the quality their products give to its customers. Beats have become an icon in the audio industry, whether people use them for fashion style or like the status that Beats headphones gives to users. With both the quality of Apple products and the good view of Beats in society, the pair could bring in a lot of profit. This gives the ability for customers to get the luxury of owning equipment by these 2 brands, which seems like a plus to me.
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I agree with William’s comment. Not having a free tier version of their music streaming will probably limit their growth. Everyone likes to get something for free and I believe if they even came out with a free trial they might be able to gain more customers. I don’t know if teaming up with Beats is in their best interest as I feel like they have a negative reputation when it comes to the masses. A pair of giant, (red), wireless headphones that are made for cents on the dollar and sold for $3-400+ is outrageous in my opinion. Good luck Apple, we know some people will automatically be on board just because it’s an apple product.
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