Apple to phase out Beats Music service on Nov. 30
An inevitable end of services is about to befall Beats Music, which will officially shut down operations on Nov. 30 after being acquired by Apple and seeing its music curation and playlist generation technology infused into Apple Music.
The announcement was made on the Beats Music support webpage by customer experience manager Dale Bagwell, who notes subscriptions will be cancelled when the service terminates on Nov. 30. Current users are urged to transfer their profile, including picks and preferences, to Apple Music.
"All the pros that curated music for you are still crafting more amazing experiences. Plus, on Apple Music, you'll get even better recommendations based on music you already listen to and love, 24/7 global radio with Beats 1, exciting material from your favorite artist, and more," Bagwell writes.
The document offers a link to the Apple Music webpage where customers can take the streaming service for a three-month test drive if they haven't already done so.
Apple purchased Beats last year for $3 billion, netting both the company's hardware and software units, as well as high-profile executives Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre and Trent Reznor. Curation and playlist generation technology from the Beats Music service, a minor player in the streaming music industry, was subsequently folded into Apple Music, while the Beats by Dre audio brand still lives on under Apple.
Apple Music debuted alongside Beats 1 Radio in June as an iOS exclusive before being ported over to the fourth-generation Apple TV via tvOS. Most recently, Apple launched a beta version of its Apple Music Android app this week.
The announcement was made on the Beats Music support webpage by customer experience manager Dale Bagwell, who notes subscriptions will be cancelled when the service terminates on Nov. 30. Current users are urged to transfer their profile, including picks and preferences, to Apple Music.
"All the pros that curated music for you are still crafting more amazing experiences. Plus, on Apple Music, you'll get even better recommendations based on music you already listen to and love, 24/7 global radio with Beats 1, exciting material from your favorite artist, and more," Bagwell writes.
The document offers a link to the Apple Music webpage where customers can take the streaming service for a three-month test drive if they haven't already done so.
Apple purchased Beats last year for $3 billion, netting both the company's hardware and software units, as well as high-profile executives Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre and Trent Reznor. Curation and playlist generation technology from the Beats Music service, a minor player in the streaming music industry, was subsequently folded into Apple Music, while the Beats by Dre audio brand still lives on under Apple.
Apple Music debuted alongside Beats 1 Radio in June as an iOS exclusive before being ported over to the fourth-generation Apple TV via tvOS. Most recently, Apple launched a beta version of its Apple Music Android app this week.
Comments
Anyone else have to take a double-take on that, thinking it meant Apple Music. I guess those names are still unified wherever they are stored in my noggin.
My only take was thinking (hoping) it said "Apple to sell off "Beats". (period)
I was more concerned with the email I got from Sonos saying they are hard at work on providing Apple Music support, with a conspicuous non-commitment to deploying Apple Music support before Beats closes shop.
After waiting years for Apple to build more functionality into AirPlay, I switched my whole house to Sonos 18 months ago.
While it has been kinda hit-or-miss with my physical library, Sonos manages streaming services really well. Once my iTunes Library is accessible via the completely new Apple Music integration, I have high hopes for a much better integration with my iTunes Library.
Hopefully the 'Update Music Library' command is never needed again!
Yep. I thought the same thing. I wonder how Apple Music is actually doing.
I listen to music every day. I took advantage of the Apple Music trial and found it slightly entertaining, but didn't feel it was worth $15 a month. I'd never even notice a such a relatively tiny fee by itself, but $15 here, $25 there, $9 here, $13 there... Before you know it you're spending $1,000+ a year just for media consumption. I have to draw the line somewhere! I used Apple Music to search for and listen to music mostly for the sake of nostalgia that I wouldn't otherwise be interested in buying. I'd rather buy songs I want to listen to again instead of rent them.
I wonder what effect, if any, this will have on the Beats 1 station that Apple made such a big deal about.
It's all part of the evil plan.
Expand on this please. Clarify Apple's "evil plan" and outline how it's different from any other profit driven, publicly traded corporation.
Evil plan:
1. Buy beats
2. ???
3. Profit!
Evil plan:
1. Buy beats
2. ???
3. Profit!
Compelling argument, but let me get this straight...
if you owned a company – that had to report to shareholders – your grand plan (to avoid being evil) would be to make no acquisitions and hope to break even or lose money because profit is bad?
Good luck with that!
While it has been kinda hit-or-miss with my physical library, Sonos manages streaming services really well. Once my iTunes Library is accessible via the completely new Apple Music integration, I have high hopes for a much better integration with my iTunes Library.
Hopefully the 'Update Music Library' command is never needed again!
I'm expecting Sonos will only support the subscription side of Apple Music, and you'll still need to provide LAN access to your music library.
LAN access isn't the problem I have. It's the manual indexing of my iTunes library. I'm hopeful that the integration with Apple Music offers the opportunity for a live link with the iTunes. Not having any idea what, if any, more sophisticated method may now be available, I can only hope.
The size of my iTunes library makes indexing a 20 minute process. If I get a new CD (or iTunes purchase), put it in my iTunes and want to listen, I'm waiting 20 minutes.
I could sync my new purchase to my iPhone and play through Sonos using the 'this phone' source in the iOS Sonos app faster. Seems rather backward.
Too bad there wasn't a $5 plan just limit the hours or something. I just don't tune into music enough to justify the current price. Right now I just stream music from Amazon prime since its free as part of their prime service.