As expected, Beats Music has launched its streaming music service to compete with other music services like Apple’s iTunes Radio, Pandora, Spotify and Rdio.
Beats’ music streaming project, codenamed “Project Daisy,” has been in private alpha since quite a while, and had raised $60 million from investors. It had also acquired music streaming service MOG last year, which will form an important part of Beats Music.
The service is run by an impressive set of music personalities including Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and its differentiator would be “heavy” curation, and a focus on mobile.
From Beat Music’s blog:
We wanted to build a music service that combined the freedom of an on-demand subscription service – unlimited, uninterrupted streaming and downloads of tens of millions of songs – but layer on top features that would give you that feeling only music that moves you can give. The right song at the right time will give you a chill. Make you pull someone close. Nod your head. Sing in the mirror. Roll down the car window and crank the volume to the right. [..]The service allows you to make your own playlists or download albums for offline listening. You can also search for your friends playlists and play their playlists.
[..] But we have these powerful computers in our pocket and computers can learn a lot from what we listen to when. My phone knows when I’m driving. It knows I’m at the gym. It knows I generally listen to hip hop and metal while running and like a wide range of mellower music just before bed.
We wanted to build a service that was more than a server, one that was truly of service to the listener. We wanted to combine the trust that comes from excellent hand-picked music with the personalization that knows you’re an individual and that a handful of stations can’t satisfy all listeners.
It offers some interesting curation features such as “Right Now,” which delivers endless playlist for your context based on where you are, what you feel like doing, who you’re with, and what kind of music you’re looking to hear.
The “Highlights” feature lets you stay in the know by following Beats Music’s programmer picks. You can also find playlists based on genres, activities, or your favorite curator in the “Find it” section.
The service is available for free for 7 days. After the trial period, you can subscribe to Beat Music for $9.99 per month for unlimited streaming, downloading from the catalog of more than 20 million songs. Beat Music has a special price for AT&T customers. They can try Beats Music free for 90 days with your AT&T Family Plan then get Beats Music for your entire family — up to five people and ten devices — for $14.99/month.
The service is available only in the U.S. currently. You can download the Beats Music iPhone app for free from the App Store [iTunes link].
[via Beats Music blog]
0 comments:
Post a Comment