iTunes Radio

As of today, Apple's iTunes Radio is no more, with the once free, ad-supported music channels being integrated into the subscription-based Apple Music service. The company originally announced the change earlier this month, and now the radio stations are officially off-air. iOS users that try to listen to a station within the Music app are now given a prompt inviting them join the Apple Music streaming service, with those on a Mac seeing the same message in iTunes.

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The days of free iTunes Radio streaming are nearing their end, with Apple sending notifications to customers in the United States and Australia regarding an upcoming paywall. Those who don’t want to pay will have the Beats 1 "premiere free broadcast" for listening, but those who want more will need to shell out $9.99/month for an Apple Music subscription.

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Apple's long-rumored streaming music service will be revealed to rival Spotify at WWDC 2015 next week, insiders claim, priced at $10 per month. The service is believed to initially run alongside, rather than replace, Beats Music, and comprise part - though not all - of the company's digital music catalog along with a selection of radio stations curated by human DJs. Interestingly, Apple is even said to be considering promoting the streaming platform to people who initially wanted to purchase music instead.

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It is expected that Apple will use next week's WWDC keynote to unveil a revamped iTunes Radio, complete with a new streaming service to rival those of Spotify and Pandora. As that event approaches, the New York Post seems to have gotten its hands on a few of Apple's plans, revealing some new details about the music service. The newspaper says that Apple is looking to get several high-profile musicians to act as guest DJs for iTunes Radio, including Drake, Pharrell Williams, and David Guetta.

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While we wait for the assumed launch of the service, Apple’s streaming ambitions are being widely rumored. Last we heard, Apple was muscling music labels to disavow themselves of ‘freemium’ streaming. Now we get a better idea of why that might be; Apple wants to offer a free trial and limited free listening, according to a new report. Apple is also said to be leaning toward a curated radio service, which is why they are hiring away big-name talent from terrestrial radio.

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It was announced yesterday that the well known DJ from BBC Radio 1, Zane Lowe, has taken a job at Apple and will be stepping down from his position of hosting the new music evening program. Lowe has become prominent over his 12 year period on the radio show for discovering new musical talent and launching them to stardom. In addition to winning a number of awards for his talent as a DJ, he was nominated for a 2015 Grammy for producing and writing Sam Smith's album In the Lonely Hour.

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It's fair to say that iTunes isn't a universally loved app for music management, but Apple has at least boosted usability with the fresh release of iTunes 12.1 this week. The biggest change in the new app is the addition of a Notification Center widget allowing shortcut control over what's playing, and hopefully allowing you to leave iTunes itself minimized to the dock more of the time. The same widget also offers extra features during iTunes Radio streaming, which Apple is presumably hoping will encourage more music downloads.

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In purchasing Beats, many wondered just what Apple would do with the service. Would they shutter it, or somehow make it worthwhile for everyone? The latter seems to be the case, or at least more people will be force-fed access to it. A report from the Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, says Apple will make Beats Music a standard Apple app in the middle of 2015. The app will be pushed to your device (and made unable for deletion) around March 2015.

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Now that Apple has officially welcomed (most of) the Beats team to Cupertino, we should start hearing how they’ll incorporate who they’re keeping into the mix. The latest report hints that Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers will take over iTunes Radio for Apple. He will still run Beats Music, though, suggesting a merger of the services is incoming.

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The iTunes Radio platform might be getting a bit more radio-like. The music service, which offers up a streamed playlist, is rumored to be working with several radio stations to bring their broadcasts online. Even more telling is that the inclusion of actual radio stations would bring “locally targeted advertising”.

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Now that Apple has Beats under their wing, some are searching for answers. Did they covet Beats’ headphones? Was it a quick grab to get a streaming music offering? The answer to both is probably a firm “yes”, but when it comes to Apple’s music offerings, the proof is in the numbers.

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With WWDC right around the corner, speculation abounds regarding iOS 8. Much like iOS 7 brought a wildly updated UI, iOS 8 is said to bring added functionality. From new Apple apps to a brand new way to multitask, iOS 8 could usher in a new age for iPhone and iPad users.

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