Southwest Airlines and Apple offer Beats Music with new in-flight entertainment service

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2014
A new partnership between Apple and Southwest Airlines will not only offer access to the Beats Music subscription service while in flight, but a new Beats-branded Boeing 737 aircraft is also taking to the skies.




Beats Music will be available on Southwest Airlines' Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft, offering access to Apple's streaming subscription music service. Southwest and Apple will offer a "uniquely curated music experience," featuring playlists in a variety of genres handpicked by Beats Music expert curators.

Flights will include a library with hundreds of playlists, including "The Sentence," which is a continuous stream based on users' responses to four questions about location, activity, surroundings and musical preference.

Streams will be accessible through the Southwest entertainment portal, which can be accessed on personal electronic devices on Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft. The service is compatible with iOS devices, as well as Android and most Web browsers.




Southwest Airlines is also featuring a Beats Music-branded aircraft in its fleet, a Boeing 737 painted with the tagline "Don't miss a beat," as well as an illustration of Beats headphones around the plane's cockpit.

Southwest is also promoting the launch of Beats Music with live onboard performances by Cobra Starship on Flight 732 from Dallas Love Field to Chicago-Midway, as well as Elephant Revival on Flight 1527 from Portland to Denver.

"Southwest connects our customers to what is important in their lives, and in this case, it's music," said Kevin Krone, Southwest Airlines Chief Marketing Officer. "We continue to enhance our onboard offerings to remain current as our customers' needs evolve, and with the addition of Beats Music on our entertainment portal, we're doing just that."

Southwest has worked with Apple in the past, partnering with Dish a year ago to provide passengers with in-flight entertainment via iPad 2 tablets. The system allows passengers to check out iPad 2 units at in-terminal Dish kiosks prior to departure, and return the iPad to a corresponding kiosk on arrival.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16

    It seems like this was in planning before the purchase and Apple just has to let it run to completion.

  • Reply 2 of 16
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    It seems like this was in planning before the purchase and Apple just has to let it run to completion.




    You're probably right, but that plane is cool.  They should do another one with white Apple ear buds.

  • Reply 3 of 16

    Nicely done images on the plane! I like it.

     

    As an aside, I pretty much use SWA now for US domestic flights whenever/wherever I can. I am totally done chasing points/platinum level etc. with the atavistic majors. As I grow older, I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things to me in short haul flights are: (i) flights that take off on time, and (ii) employees who actually seem happy that you're flying with them.

  • Reply 4 of 16
    Dude, the atavistic majors! That's it!

    The plane wearing those headphones, that is so cute!

    Liking the name "Elephant Revival" ... definitely stoked for the next time I fly, and I always fly Southwest.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

     

    As an aside, I pretty much use SWA now for US domestic flights whenever/wherever I can. I am totally done chasing points/platinum level etc. with the atavistic majors. As I grow older, I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things to me in short haul flights are: (i) flights that take off on time, and (ii) employees who actually seem happy that you're flying with them.


    Ding ding (or should I just say "Ding!")- thats why I love Southwest.  The employees are first class.  If I'm domestic, I do southwest as well- they're fantastic- and Dallas based.  And they're brilliantly owned and operated.  Dont believe me?  Just look at their profits the last 40 years.

     

    That plane looks great too.  Don't really care about the music aspect, but I'll give it a try as I get free wifi with them anyway

  • Reply 6 of 16
    Nicely done images on the plane! I like it.

    As an aside, I pretty much use SWA now for US domestic flights whenever/wherever I can. I am totally done chasing points/platinum level etc. with the atavistic majors. As I grow older, I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things to me in short haul flights are: (i) flights that take off on time, and (ii) employees who actually seem happy that you're flying with them.

    Service matters.

    The only people who can get away with bad service are the French.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    It's not clear if you have to pay for WiFi to use this, or if it's free for all passengers.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TokyoJimu View Post



    It's not clear if you have to pay for WiFi to use this, or if it's free for all passengers.



    If it's like the TV offering it'll be free for everybody

  • Reply 9 of 16
    exdlexdl Posts: 7member
    I wonder how Southwest will handle this. Most of their digital content can be accessed from Safari on an iOS device, but they still recommend the 'OnboardPlayer' app (I've heard that's a DRM manager for some of the on-demand content). Am unsure if they'll have a Beats player via Safari, what will happen if I try to access the content directly from a Beats app, etc. My gut says the app will work (just like the Southwest app does) when a passenger is connected to their Wi-Fi's free option.

    It's worth noting that a free Wi-Fi passenger cannot access the App Store to download Soutbhwest related apps like 'OnboardPlayer'. One either does it pre-flight or uses Safari. I think the Android app can be downloaded through some channel while in flight though. Always found that odd, but assumed it had to do with IT complexities about allowing some access to the App Store but not complete access.

    Oddly enough, I was flying Southwest yesterday and saw what I thought was a Beats ad on a sidebar. Wonder if this content was live and I just missed it? Flying them again Friday so will find out then.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    pazuzupazuzu Posts: 1,728member
    Apple seems to be spending it'smoney rather foolishly these days. First those terrible commercials and now this.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    Nicely done images on the plane! I like it.

    As an aside, I pretty much use SWA now for US domestic flights whenever/wherever I can. I am totally done chasing points/platinum level etc. with the atavistic majors. As I grow older, I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things to me in short haul flights are: (i) flights that take off on time, and (ii) employees who actually seem happy that you're flying with them.

    Service matters.

    The only people who can get away with bad service are the French.

    You mean there's an airline worse then United?? I was on an united plane that left the terminal on time...but then they had to taxi back for some reason. We left the airport an hour late... as usual.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    Meanwhile Delta flight passenger get to listen to an old Zune player with Microsoft ads and elevator music. Hopefully this means the first class passengers won't have to listen to the pilots swear at their Surface RT navigational tablets...
  • Reply 13 of 16

    looks almost as tacky as Beats headphones

  • Reply 14 of 16
    elrothelroth Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post





    Service matters.



    The only people who can get away with bad service are the French.

    And the Soup Nazi.

  • Reply 15 of 16
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post





    Service matters.



    The only people who can get away with bad service are the French.

    Actually, international flight wise, I believe that the American carriers win the prize for having the worst service and attitude, so much so that I will never fly with another one again. I'd rather pay an extra 2,000 CHF to avoid doing so. It didn't used to be this way, but post 911 has made these people into complete assholes. I had a flight attendant literally tell me to stop asking for water or she will notify the captain, it was only the second time and it had been 45 minutes. I had to take my pain medication as I was, you know in pain, I was also flying business class, where's the extra service. This is just one of many stories, yea, never again, especially United, they can all go to hell as far as I'm concern. I'm usually fair and balanced with things but in this case, nah, screw'm. American airports are no different, if I was a traveling business man in the U.S. I would go nutso really fast.

     

    French people are much nicer if you speak French and they make friends very quickly. If you get a rude waiter, I learned a trick from my husband, give him 20 Euros upfront and just tell'm to cut the shitt, I'm not in the mood. Works every single time and you get better service. In nice restaurants where the waiters are known to be arrogant pricks, my husband used to take a 100 euro note, sometimes 200, depending on the restaurant, split it in half and give one of the halves to the waiter, "good service right", "well yes sir of course".

  • Reply 16 of 16
    relic wrote: »
    Service matters.


    The only people who can get away with bad service are the French.
    Actually, international flight wise, I believe that the American carriers win the prize for having the worst service and attitude, so much so that I will never fly with another one again. I'd rather pay an extra 2,000 CHF to avoid doing so. It didn't used to be this way, but post 911 has made these people into complete assholes. I had a flight attendant literally tell me to stop asking for water or she will notify the captain, it was only the second time and it had been 45 minutes. I had to take my pain medication as I was, you know in pain, I was also flying business class, where's the extra service. This is just one of many stories, yea, never again, especially United, they can all go to hell as far as I'm concern. I'm usually fair and balanced with things but in this case, nah, screw'm. American airports are no different, if I was a traveling business man in the U.S. I would go nutso really fast.

    French people are much nicer if you speak French and they make friends very quickly. If you get a rude waiter, I learned a trick from my husband, give him 20 Euros upfront and just tell'm to cut the shitt, I'm not in the mood. Works every single time and you get better service. In nice restaurants where the waiters are known to be arrogant pricks, my husband used to take a 100 euro note, sometimes 200, depending on the restaurant, split it in half and give one of the halves to the waiter, "good service right", "well yes sir of course".

    Like the tip tip!

    You're not the first to comment on the horror of American planes. I was thinking more of service in French restaurants. They can get away with it due to their fine cuisine, and the fact that even when surly, the French tend to be charming.
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