Cue and Iovine: Apple didn’t reset after Jobs but it did shuffle the team when it lost ‘its point guard’ [Video]
Cue: “I think Steve Jobs would be very proud of what we’re doing and what we’re building”
Eddy Cue: Apple passed 35 billions songs sold on iTunes last week, 40 million iTunes Radio listeners
Live from the Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine interview at the Code Conference, Cue is sharing some of the latest stats for iTunes and other services and noted that Apple just crossed 35 billion songs sold this past week. That’s up from the 25 billion songs purchased and downloaded that Apple announced in February of last year. Cue said sold, but we’re assuming that 35 billion number includes both purchases and downloads like Apple’s stat did in its press release last year.
Cue also noted that iTunes has around 800 million customers total and around 40 million iTunes Radio listeners in the U.S. and Australia with a lot of growth coming internationally. Iovine also shared some stats confirming previous reports that Beats Music is now at around 250,000 subscribers from a total of 5 million downloads. Iovine claimed conversions from downloads to paid customers would have been a lot higher if Beats Music was using Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism.
Tune into our live blog of the interview happening now for the latest.
Apple releases iTunes 11.2.2 with fix for unexpected podcast downloads
Apple today has released yet another stability patch to iTunes 11.2 on OS X. The latest version, iTunes 11.2.2, specifically addresses an issue with unexpect podcast episode downloads, according to Apple. The software update also includes stability improvements.
Apple first released iTunes 11.2 alongside the release of OS X Mavericks 10.9.3; a subsequent update followed with the release of iTunes 11.2.1 with a security fix.
The update is available via Software Updates in the Mac App Store.
Declining iTunes sales underline need for Apple to launch a subscription music service
Declining iTunes sales highlighted by Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty and reported by Fortune appear to underline the need for Apple to move beyond sales of music downloads and into the subscription music business. iTunes sales are down 24 percent year-on-year.
While the slack is being picked up by app sales – a trend previously noted by Asymco’s Horace Dediu – that falling blue line reflects the wider shift in consumer behaviour from purchasing downloads to subscribing to streaming services noted last year by Billboard magazine …
Expand
Expanding
Close
Spotify CEO: I’ve always assumed Apple would offer a streaming service
If Apple does indeed reach a deal to acquire Beats Electronics and announce it this week as expected, the clock is once again counting down to offer up your take on the whole scenario before it’s actually official. Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson got that opportunity earlier this week thanks in part to Dan Lyons of Fake Steve Jobs fame; Isaacson told Lyons he believes the expected $3.2 billion acquisition by Apple is all about creating a world class video service led by Beats’ co-founder Jimmy Iovine.
But when you think about Beats and what the company has to offer for Apple, the subscription music service launched by the company in January earlier this year comes to mind. Spotify, of course, dominates in this space as seen by the company’s announcement today that they now have 10 million paid subscribers and 40 million active users.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Facebook announces TV Show and Music ID app updates for iOS and Android
According to multiple sources, Facebook will unveil a new service today that can identify television shows and music playing in the background. The new software, which will be available via an updated App Store app on iPhone and a Google Play app on Android, will work in tandem with your smartphone hardware’s microphone. Facebook is said to be integrating the feature so Facebook users can more easily share what music they are listening to or what TV show they are currently watching to their Timelines. In iOS 8, Apple will unveil a new Siri feature in partnership with Shazam to identify songs playing in the background. Update: Official announcement after the break…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Ballet company & iPhone gyroscope teach couples some new dance moves
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gete61IxkPo]
Trying to align moving dots on an iPhone screen might sound like an unlikely way for a couple to learn some new dance moves, but that’s the idea behind the Bounden app – and it was apparently created with the help of the Dutch National Ballet …
Expand
Expanding
Close
Italian authorities give Apple & others 20 days to submit defence to “unfair” in-app purchase claims
An Italian competition organization has given Apple, Google, Amazon and Gameloft twenty days to submit a defence to its investigation into in-app purchases or face a fine of up to €5M ($6.9M), reports ZDNet.
The companies now have 20 days to comply with the requests for information that came with the letter, and to respond with their defences to the allegations. If the alleged violations proved to be true, the three internet giants and the European game developer could each face a fine up to €5m — although the Italian watchdog told ZDNet that the punishment would be proportional to each company’s size.
The complaint is based on two concerns. First, whether consumers are clear about the likely total cost of the app at the time they download it. Second, whether sufficient information is provided about how to prevent or limit in-app purchases, especially in games played by children.
Apple settled a similar complaint with the FTC in January, after last year offering refunds to parents whose children had made in-app purchases. At that time, Tim Cook pointed to the safeguards in place, which include the ability to disable in-app purchases with a single switch, and requiring a password for any purchases made more than 15 minutes after downloading the app.
iOS also now alerts customers that further purchases can be made within 15 minutes without re-entering their iTunes password, and all iTunes apps that offer in-app purchases are labelled as such in the App Store.
Beats Music had only 111k subscribers in March, claims music blog
If a leaked royalties report posted by a musician’s blog is genuine, Beats Music subscribers certainly played no part in Apple’s presumed decision to acquire the company. The report appears to indicate that the service paid first quarter royalties to musicians based on total subscriber numbers of just 110,992.
As Business Insider notes, there are a couple of complications that make it hard to determine the actual number of paid subscribers. First, the majority of subscriptions are family packages, where a single payment of $14.99 a month allows up to five users to access the service. The total number of users will thus be higher than the raw subscription figures.
Against this, however, a promotion by AT&T offering free 90-day subscriptions mean that many of those appearing in the subscriber numbers may have paid nothing.
Either way, the numbers are irrelevant to Apple. With the headphone business bringing in $1B a year, Apple appears to have bought itself a well-respected streaming music technology, unrivalled music industry expertise and contacts, and a highly successful marketing team, for a bargain price.
Beats acquisition may be part of a new focus on music quality, suggests Japanese blog
Following the presumed acquisition of Beats, Apple plans to up its music game with support for high-resolution audio files in a revamped Music app in iOS 8, and to offer a higher-quality version of its In-Ear Headphones, reports Japanese blog Macotakara.
The source of the high-res audio rumor appears somewhat circumstantial, linked to a Warner Music post about the forthcoming release of a ‘Super Deluxe’ version of three remastered early Led Zeppelin albums in 96kHz/24-bit form – a resolution the current iOS Music app cannot play. It is, however, consistent with a similar earlier rumor regarding iTunes support for higher-quality audio …
Expand
Expanding
Close
iTunes Radio streaming Coldplay’s upcoming ‘Ghost Stories’ album for free on First Play
iTunes Radio has quickly become the best source for unreleased albums by huge artists, and today the service added yet another high-profile artist. Ahead of its highly anticipated release on May 19th, you can now stream Coldplay’s new album Ghost Stories in its entirety on iTunes via its First Play feature.
In the past, iTunes Radio has streamed albums by The Black Keys, Eminem, Pharrell, and Rick Ross, attempting to compete with services like Spotify and Rdio. Neither of those, however, offer any sort of early streaming capabilities like iTunes Radio.
Apple and Beats not such strange bedfellows, argues Bloomberg
Steve Jobs and Jimmy Iovine in 2008 (Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage via Getty Images)
A Bloomberg analysis of the presumed acquisition of Beats Electronics by Apple says that while the two companies may have very different cultures, the partnership is not so strange as it might first appear.
“These aren’t strange bedfellows at all,” said Peter Csathy, chief executive officer of entertainment law firm Manatt Digital Media Ventures. “Steve Jobs really drove the relationship with the music industry. The executives at Apple and Beats know each other very well, and there’s a comfort level there” …
Opinion: Beats Music is actually so good that I’m worried about Apple ruining it (à la LaLa)
My first reaction to yesterday’s news that Apple is nearing the close of a $3.2 billion deal to purchase Beats Electronics was one of worry, but not for the reasons that I saw in much of the commentary from others. I’m less concerned with what Apple could have planned for the headphones business or that the price tag is so high; after all, it’s exciting to think that Apple could make a major acquisition (its largest yet) after somewhat of a quiet period. What worries me is what Apple has planned for the not-so-popular-yet subscription streaming service Beats Music…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Poll: Do you like Apple’s decision to buy Beats for $3.2bn?
With multiple sources saying that Apple’s acquisition of Beats is in the final stages, everyone is trying to figure out what Apple has to gain from the deal. Earlier, we posted some guesses about what the acquisition could be for, but nobody really knows for certain yet.
Opinion: What is Apple’s thinking in spending $3.2B on buying Beats?
Apple’s apparent purchase of Beats took everyone by surprise. I must confess that my immediate reaction was to be slightly appalled. As someone whose audio tastes run more to B&O and B+W, I’ve always viewed Beats headphones as over-bassed, over-priced fashion items. But then my tastes in music admittedly differ somewhat from those of the typical Beats customer.
Even so, it’s still a little baffling at first glance. Tim Cook himself said a year ago that Apple asks two questions when considering an acquisition:
Would it help us make a great product, and would the culture fit at Apple?
My immediate answer to both would be “no,” so why would Apple spend $3.2B on a headphone manufacturer with a small sideline streaming music service … ?
Expand
Expanding
Close
Photo editing pioneer Hipstamatic offers Vine-like video app, Cinamatic
Hipstamatic led the way in offering a fast and fun way to edit and share photos from an iPhone, but has been a little slow to move into video. The company has now corrected this, launching the Cinamatic app designed to compete with Vine and Instagram.
Cinamatic lets you shoot short videos ranging from 3-15 seconds, apply filters to them and then share on Vine, Instagram and Facebook – or send them via email or Messages …
Expand
Expanding
Close
Opinion: With all of the new Apple data centers, is it time for iCloud to get serious about storage?
The Apple ecosystem is a large part of why I stick to an all-Apple line-up for my laptops, tablet and phone. iCloud is key to that, of course, providing seamless backup and syncing between devices.
Whether it’s my calendar, contacts, reminders, notes, ebooks or Safari bookmarks, all are available on all devices within a minute or two of me updating any of them. Documents I create in Pages, Numbers or Keynote are again available from any of my devices providing I choose to store them on iCloud. As I pay the extra for iTunes Match, I’m also able to stream any of my music from any device.
In some respects, Apple clearly takes the cloud seriously. It has invested massively in expanding its network of data centers, including a $1B investment in Reno, expansion in Maiden and new data centers as far afield as Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Yet, central as it is to the ecosystem, iCloud still feels a bit like it deserves the tag Steve Jobs famously applied to Apple TV: a hobby …
Upcoming album ‘Turn Blue’ by The Black Keys now available on iTunes Radio First Play
iTunes Radio is once again proving to be one of the destinations for an early listen to unreleased albums from popular musicians. Today, the service added The Black Keys’ upcoming album Turn Blue to its “First Play” lineup, allowing users to stream the entire album for free ahead of its release on May 13.
Previously, iTunes Radio has granted early streaming access to albums from artists like Eminem, Rick Ross, and Pharrell. First Play is one of the ways Apple is attempting to set its own offering apart from competing streaming services like Pandora and Spotify, which don’t currently offer any early-access releases.
You can listen to Turn Blue by opening up the Radio page in iTunes on a computer or the iOS Music app and selecting it from the list of pre-made stations. The full 11-track album is available for pre-order for $10.99. Two songs from the album—the title track and “Fever”—can be purchased and downloaded now for $1.29 each.
Apple brings iTunes Match to Japan
As shown on Apple’s iTunes Match availability page, Apple has now brought its iTunes Match service to Japan. This follows an expansion of iTunes in the Cloud and Apple TV content to Germany, earlier today.
For $30 a year, iTunes Match uploads your entire music library and makes it available across all your devices automatically. Lower quality, or pirated music, is replaced with high-quality 256kbps legal songs.
The service in Japan is priced at 3980 yen.
By the numbers: a breakdown of Apple’s Q2 2014 earnings call
Apple went over its Q2 2014 earnings today on its quarterly conference call with CEO Tim Cook and incoming CFO Luca Maestri. The company announced that former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts will finally be joining the executive team as SVP of Retail. Cook also addressed the recent debut of Microsoft’s Office productivity suite on the iPad.
But, as with any earnings call, the numbers that define Apple’s success or failure in the market took center stage. Here are some of the big ones you might have missed:
NYOP Mac software bundle: Few bucks gets RapidWeaver, Tuneup, Snapheal Pro, Crossover, PDF Converter and much more
StackSocial and 9to5Toys Specials are offering another Name Your Own Price Mac Bundle with 10 Mac apps regularly priced at $655. This bundle has some incredibly solid apps, and currently less than $5 will unlock all of the apps. In addition, 10% of your purchase will go to a charity of your choice including Child’s Play, World Wildlife Foundation, or Creative Commons. Also, if you are on the leaderboard at any time, you are entered to win a MacBook Air. The price will go up as more people buy so it is best to get in early.
Some of the notable apps in the bundle are photo editing software Snapheal Pro (Reg. $40), simple website builder RapidWeaver 5 (Reg. $79), Windows software utility CrossOver 13 For Mac, iTunes organizer TuneUp and screen capture software Voila ($30). You can see a full list of the apps in the bundle below, as well as more Mac deals on 9to5Toys Specials and in our daily app deal round-ups.
Apple updates App Store content ratings system with new descriptions and market-specific ratings
Apple has made some changes to the way it handles content ratings in the App Store, as outlined in an email (included below) sent to developers today. These ratings aren’t the five-star reviews that users assign apps, but the age-based restrictions assigned to each app based on the type of content in the app. While most apps are rated 4+ (the lowest), some that contain violent or potentially offensive content may have higher ratings (as seen above).
Starting today, developers will be able to assign a few new content descriptions to their apps in order to help better determine what age group the software is appropriate for. These new descriptions include “Medical/Treatment Information, Gambling and Contests, and Unrestricted Web Access.” That last one is good news for many developers previously forced to use a 17+ rating just because their app included a web browser that could be used to accesss anything on the web.
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.
Apple and Shazam planning to team up for music identification feature built into iOS
Apple and Shazam are teaming up to build a music identification feature natively into iOS, according to a Bloomberg report. The feature will allow users to find the name and artist of a song that’s playing, likely with the option to download the song from the iTunes Store or create an new iTunes Radio station.
Unlike some of Apple’s other music-releated features (such as Podcasts and iTunes U), the system will be built into the OS directly rather than require a separate download. So far there isn’t any confirmation of whether this feature will appear in iOS 8 or a later version, but with WWDC right around the corner, Apple will need to work quickly to secure the deal if the feature is to be announced with the next-gen software update.
