Apple Launches New Music Streaming Service, Apple Music

The long-awaited service will immediately rival Spotify and Pandora.

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Image via Complex Original
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After plenty of speculation, Apple finally launched their new music streaming service during the Apple Worldwide Developers meeting in California today. The service has been long rumored since Apple's purchase of Beats By Dre a little over a year ago, which brought both Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine over to the company.

Right off the bat, Apple is already thought to be a major force in the streaming game, with Spotify preparing for the competition with a slew of new features that includes exclusive video content through the likes of ESPN, Comedy Central, BBC, and more. Along with Dre and Iovine, Apple has slotted former BBC Radio One personality Zane Lowe for a role in the streaming service. We will continue to update the features of the service as they update throughout the presentation and you can follow along below. 

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Jimmy Iovine introduced Apple Music as a place where fans can interact with their favorite artists like never before. The complete experience includes streaming from every artist on iTunes and 24/7 "Beats One Radio" with Zane Lowe and Ebro serving as DJs for the service in New York, Los Angeles, and London. It will also include the "Connect" feature, where artists can share videos and music with fans through the service. 

To further push the service and "Connect" feature, Drake took the stage to talk about his unique come up in the industry and how easy it is to connect with fans in 2015. Drake also hinted that he's going to bring Apple Music and Connect into his next project, Views From The 6, which he said he is currently working on at the moment. 

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The actual service looks a lot like the interface of that is currently on iPhone's, but it offers full streaming of every song in iTunes, with the ability to create unique playlists based off recommendations that the service finds for you from your preferences. Along with creating your own playlists, the service will also recommend playlists made by other users, which you can then add to your playlists if you like it. The main page of the service will include the latest albums and hot songs for fans to browse through, while also allowing users to search for their past favorites. 

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The service will officially launch on June 30 and will offer users a free three-month subscription when they initially sign up. After the free trial, the service will cost $9.99 a month, which is the current standard in the streaming industry. Apple is also offering families a special offer where they can sign up six members for only $14.99 per month. On June 30, the service will be available on all iOS devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPad Touch, Mac and PC, and then will later be launched on Apple TV and Android in the fall.

The rollout of Apple Music completed with a brand new commercial featuring a new song from Pharrell​, and a live performance from The Weeknd of his new song, "I Can't Feel My Face."  

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