Beats Music updated with subscriptions via in-app purchase, Facebook friend search, and a lot more

Beats Music for iOS was updated today to version 1.0.7, but don’t let the minor version number bump fool you: this update has a lot of new stuff, including an entirely new subscription model, packed in.

The biggest news in this update is the option to purchase a subscription directly from the iTunes Store through an in-app purchase. Previously users had to add the Beats Music service to their carrier phone bill in order to enjoy the full feature set, such as on-demand streaming music and downloads.

Also new in this update, the app now features thousands of new songs in “The Sentence,” which is the app’s custom music shuffler for users on the free plan. A new “artist offers” section lets users find music and merchandise from specific artists.

A few new social features are included in the new update, including the ability to search for your Facebook friends and add them on this service, as well as improved management of connected social services like Twitter and Facebook.

Finally, offline playback and music downloads have been improved, bugs have been squashed in the music player, and other issues have been remedied.

You can grab the Beats Music app and use “The Sentence” playback for free by downloading it from the App Store. A monthly subscription to unlock on-demand playback is $9.99 via in-app purchase. You can find the complete 1.0.7 change log below:

What’s New in Version 1.0.7

You asked for it, and we listened! Some highlights in this release include:

● In-app subscription and account management via your iTunes account
● Find Your Friends — find and follow your Facebook friends on Beats Music
● Improved Facebook and Twitter account management
● Thousands of new tracks available in The Sentence
● Artist Offers — discover new content and merchandise from your favorite artists
● Offline Mode & Downloading improvements
● Music Player performance fixes

and much, much more!