In September 2013, Apple launched the ad-supported iTunes Radio — which is a free streaming music service that competes against Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play Music. Unfortunately, iTunes Radio will be absorbed into the paid Apple Music streaming service starting January 28, 2016.
Apple Music costs $9.99 per month for individual memberships and $14.99 for family memberships. As a comparison, Pandora charges $4.99 per month ($54.89 per year) for an ad-free music experience. But Spotify also charges $9.99 per month for ad-free music streaming. Another major music streaming service called Rdio shut down on December 22nd and sold its technology to Pandora for $75 million.
Compared to its rivals, iTunes Radio does not offer controls over what music is being streamed. iTunes Radio users simply select the genre, the artist or song to stream relevant music. Apple links the songs being played to its purchase link via iTunes. iTunes Radio limits skips at 6 times per hour and users are not able to rewind or fast forward songs. However, the subscription-based Apple Music lets you decide which songs you want to listen to on-demand and there are unlimited skips on its radio stations.
“As a listener of ad-supported radio on Apple Music, we want you to know that it's being discontinued starting January 28,” said Apple in an email to Apple Music users on January 15th. “Beats 1 will now be the premier free broadcast so you'll continue to get all the best music and culture there with world-class DJs like Zane Lowe and specialty programming from artists like Dr. Dre, Drake, Pharrell Williams, and more.”
iTunes Radio is not the only ad-supported business that Apple decided to exit this month. Last week, Apple also revealed it would be shutting down Apple iAds. iAds allowed brands to buy inventory within iOS applications. A source with Apple told BuzzFeed that the shutting down of iAds was correlated to iTunes Radio being folded into Apple Music.
Earlier this month, Apple Music reportedly hit 10 million subscribers — which is about six months after it officially launched. This makes Apple Music the second largest streaming music service, just behind Spotify. Spotify has more than 20 million paying subscribers and 75 million active users. By removing the ad-supported music streaming option, Apple may be able to convince iTunes users to pay for Apple Music instead. Apple Music has been offering a three month free trial since it launched. Andgoing forward, the global 24/7 Beats 1 radio station built into Apple Music will be the only free music streaming service.
What are your thoughts about iTunes Radio being rolled into Apple Music? Please leave a comment!
