Apple has announced it is to launch a new streaming service – ‘Apple Music’ - which will compete with the likes of Spotify, Amazon and Google.
The announcement was made on Monday (8 June) at Apples Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco by rapper Drake on the back of its new iOS 9 update.
It marks the tech giants first move into music streaming, following its dominance of the digital downloads market with its iTunes music store that launched in 2003, and will be available for $9.99 a month with an initial three-month free trial.
The service has been created in collaboration with Beats, which Apple purchased in May last year for $3bn. It will be made available for iOS users later this month.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said: Music is such an important part of our lives and our culture Apple Music will change the way you experience music forever.
Apple also unveiled its 24-hour streaming radio station Beats One that will feature former Radio One DJ Zane Lowe along with several other presenters, broadcasting from New York, Los Angeles and London.
Other features announced with the iOS update included an additional three-hour battery life, along with a new and improved Siri and Apples first news app.
Bloomberg Business has been tapped as launch partner for the app. News from Bloomberg Business that will be available on the app will be curated by the publishers team of mobile editors. The Economist will also be a part of the forthcoming news app.
Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist, commented: This app provides us with an attractive new way to encourage more people to discover The Economists distinctive brand of globally curious, mind-stretching journalism.
We see this new app as an extension of our existing sampling strategy, which involves making a carefully chosen selection of our stories, charts and multimedia available free on social platforms, on our website and in our apps.
iOS 9 will support all devices currently running iOS 8, available as a free update in the fall.
