In yet another blow to Jay Z’s much maligned musical utopia project Tidal, it has been announced that Drake will release his next album exclusively on Apple Music. The announcement was made at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco last night, where the streaming service itself was revealed after months of speculation and rumor. There will also be exclusive content from The Weeknd, as well as 30 million other tracks. But don’t expect all of the music on iTunes; it has already been noted that the Beatles back catalogue, which Apple fought so hard to get onto iTunes, will not be available on Apple Music (if you want to listen to it, you have to buy it).
Apple Music will also feature a 24-hour radio station, Beats 1, headed up by Zane Lowe, who left his long-running Radio 1 show in March, with a line up that also includes Ebro Darden from Hot 97. Apple Music also features a social platform for artists called Connect, where they can post behind the scenes videos, remixes, lyrics, images and other exclusive content, with both artists and users able to comment and interact.
Apple Music will be available for iOS on June 30 and later in the fall for Android.
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Photography Alasdair McLellan