iTunes Radio from Apple
June 11, 2013
Apple has announced iTunes Radio, a free Internet radio service featuring over 200 stations and catalogue of music from the iTunes Store, combined with features tied in to iTunes’ functionality. The announcement, made at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, confounded suggestions that the service would be called ‘iRadio’.
Users tuning into iTunes Radio on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC or Apple TV, will have access to stations inspired by the music they already listen to. Featured Stations curated by Apple and genre-focused stations that are personalised just for the user.
iTunes Radio evolves based on the music users play and download. According to Apple, the more you use iTunes Radio and iTunes, the more it knows what you like to listen to and the more personalised your experience becomes. iTunes Radio also gives access to exclusive ‘first listen’ premieres from top selling artists, Siri integration, plus the ability to tag or buy anything you hear with just one click.
“iTunes Radio is an incredible way to listen to personalised radio stations which have been created just for you,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “It’s the music you love most and the music you’re going to love, and you can easily buy it from the iTunes Store with just one click.”
Scheduled for this autumn, iTunes Radio will offer a personalised experience on day one based on a user’s listening history and past purchases from iTunes. iTunes Radio is ad-supported and free for everyone. iTunes Match users get iTunes Radio ad-free, so instead of hearing the occasional ad on iTunes Radio, iTunes Match makes listening completely ad-free.