In 2002, visionary Apple Chief, Steve Jobs, knew that music would be big on the Internet. He tried to convince record companies to sell their music online. At that time, Apple was a relatively small company and not very influential. At that same time, the music industry was upset that piracy over the Internet was rampant and they were understandably willing to sit down and discuss terms but it took some time before record labels agreed to sell one song at a time at 99 cents thru the iTunes Store. Up to 2014, Apple has sold over 35 billion songs on iTunes and its Radio has more than 40 million followers.

Today new technology and upstart business have changed the way users listen to music online. Streaming music has taken over because of smartphones and other portable devices. According to NPD Group, a research company, over 52% of Americans were streaming music using their smartphones coming into 2014 and Apple was not offering any music subscription service nor appearing to be in any hurry to corner the market which is how Spotify and Pandora found their way into the hearts and pockets of millions worldwide.

To compete with upcoming websites like Spotify, which has over 60 million global users and 15 million paid subscribers, and Pandora, which has 250 registered users and 81.5 active listeners as of 2014, Apple bought Beats Electronics in 2014 for $3 billion. The plan was to offer Apple customers the Beat’s streaming music service alongside iTunes radio streaming service. This purchase is Apple’s biggest billion dollar takeover deal so far. Strangely, the rest of 2014 was uneventful for Beats and Apple….

Fresh, Exciting News for Apple and Beats in 2015

Apple has finally announced its plans to move forward with its digital music service so music lovers should expect something exciting as the company is going head-on to woo Spotify and Pandora members.

Some of the changes that have been taking place in the back offices of Apple include an enhanced regional iTunes Radio, a subscription-based streaming music service, amazing aesthetics, curated playlists, and new albums ahead of their world launch dates. The man behind these changes aside from Apple engineers is Trent Reznor who was the Beats Chief Creative Officer.

The rumors swirling around the music industry was that Apple was negotiating for lower licensing costs by $2 from the standard $10 a month but has not been able to get companies to agree. One reason for the hesitation comes from record labels that don’t see Apple as the current driving force in digital music. According to music insiders, Apple is playing catch up as far as digital music streaming is concerned and cannot dictate terms but if Apple does it right, it could jump straight to first place since iTunes has over 800 million accounts.