State Champ Radio Apple music
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TikTok launched a new feature on Tuesday (Nov. 14) that allows users to easily save music they find on the platform to Spotify, Amazon Music or Apple Music for future listening. This will presumably reduce friction between the apps, helping translate interest on TikTok into streaming activity at a time when the music industry has been concerned that the relationship is weakening.
“TikTok is already the world’s most powerful platform for music discovery and promotion, which helps artists connect with our global community to drive engagement with their music,” Ole Obermann, TikTok’s global head of music business development, said in a statement. The new feature “takes this process a step further, creating a direct link between discovery on TikTok and consumption on a music streaming service, making it easier than ever for music fans to enjoy the full length song on the music streaming service of their choice, thereby generating even greater value for artists and rights holders.”
This “Add to Music App” will be available to users in the United States and the United Kingdom. TikTok started testing the integration earlier this year with Apple Music.
When TikTok initially came to prominence more than four years ago, virality on the app often appeared directly correlated with a jump in streams. But that link appeared to weaken as the app ballooned in popularity. The top 10 TikTok tracks in the United States were streamed far less in 2022 than they were in 2021, according to data from Luminate. And the top 10 songs on the app in 2021 were streamed far less than they were in 2020.
“For a while it was like, ‘All you gotta do is get a song going on TikTok, and it’s outta here!’” a major label executive told Billboard last year. But “it’s not a guarantee anymore” that a song will become a hit, the executive said.
Some sounds appear to thrive on TikTok but never catch fire on streaming services, where they actually generate money for the music industry. Labels will surely be excited if the “Add to Music App” helps strengthen the connection between TikTok activity and clicks on Spotify.
In the past, Spotify and TikTok have sometimes seemed at odds, competing for user attention and influence over the music industry. During the former’s Stream On event in March, for example, Gustav Soderstrom, Spotify’s co-president, took a subtle jab that seemed aimed at TikTok: “Discoveries on Spotify, unlike many other platforms, give creators so much more than just a fleeting moment of viral fame,” he said.
This sentiment was echoed at the same event by Sulinna Ong, Spotify’s global head of editorial, who noted that “there’s a disconnect between where music is being teased and where music is actually being streamed. The most powerful time to reach fans is when they’ve chosen to engage with music, like when they open up Spotify.”
But despite past poking and prodding, the two platforms now appear happy to work together. “We want to create less work to get to the audio you love,” Sten Garmark, Spotify’s global head of consumer experience, said in a statement. “That means being everywhere our users are and creating seamless ways to save songs to Spotify to enjoy when and how they choose to listen.”
Karolina Joynathsing, the director of business development for Amazon Music, used similar language in her own statement. “Some of the best parts of being a music lover are those serendipitous moments when you discover a new song or artist that you connect with instantly,” Joynathsing said. “At Amazon Music, we’re looking to make it easier to convert those moments into enduring fandom,” leading to the adoption of the Add to Music app.
TikTok plans to roll out the new feature in additional markets in the coming months.
It’s hardly a surprise, but it’s still a significant achievement: Taylor Swift is Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2023. She’s the No. 1 most-streamed female artist in Apple Music history and is also the female artist with the most songs to reach Apple Music’s Global Daily Top 100.
“I am so honored to be Apple Music’s Artist of the Year,” Swift said in a statement. “Thank you to every single one of you for making this year the most incredible, joyful, celebratory year ever. From streaming the music nonstop to screaming it together in real life at the shows, dancing chaotically in movie theaters, none of this would have been possible without you. Thank you so much.”
This is the first time Swift has received this award, which is now in its fifth year. Billie Eilish was Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2019, followed by Lil Baby (2020), The Weeknd (2021) and Bad Bunny (2022).
“Taylor Swift’s impact on music is absolutely undeniable — not just this record-breaking year, but throughout her entire career,” Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said in a statement. “She is a generation-defining artist and a true change agent in the music industry, and there is no doubt that her impact and influence will be felt for years to come. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate her achievements.”
As we all witnessed in real time, in wonder and awe, Swift reached a new level of superstardom this year. In the first 10 months of 2023, she saw 65 songs reach Apple Music’s Global Daily Top 100 — more than any other artist ever.
Swift saw consistent streaming lifts throughout the year, particularly around the enormous success of The Eras Tour. The week the tour kicked off in March, Swift’s streams grew 61 percent globally. She continued to see double-digit growth in monthly streams throughout the summer. Apple Music’s Set List: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was the No. 1 most-streamed Set List of the year, and among the top 40 editorial playlists of the year.
“Cruel Summer,” from Swift’s 2019 album Lover, became one of the biggest songs of the summer on Apple Music worldwide. The song re-entered the Global Daily Top 100 in April for the first time in four years and has remained there ever since.
Midnights still stands as the biggest album of all time by a female artist in Apple Music history by first-day and first-week streams worldwide.
On Wednesday (Nov. 8), Apple Music is spotlighting the music and moments that defined Taylor Swift’s Eras era. Listeners can tune in to an array of radio programming celebrating Swift’s two decades’ worth of melodic album narratives, as well as interviews, album collections, and playlists that showcase the singer-songwriter’s journey leading up to this historic year. Tune in at apple.co/am-1.
Swift’s Artist of the Year honor is part of the Apple Music Awards, and she will receive a physical award that includes a silicon chip that powers Apple products. The award is Apple’s “silicon wafer” suspended between a polished sheet of glass, and a machined and anodized aluminum body. According to a press release: “In a symbolic gesture, the same chip powering the devices that put 100 million songs at listeners’ fingertips also sits at the very heart of the Apple Music Awards.”
In other Swift news, she heads into the 2023 Billboard Music Awards on Nov. 19 as the leading finalist, with nods in 20 categories, and is set to restart her blockbuster Eras Tour on Thursday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Apple reported a blowout quarterly earnings report, with its serviced division (which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music and other media-related offerings) hitting another new record with $22.3 billion in revenue.
That was up from $19.2 billion a year ago, and from $21.2 billion in its last quarter.
In total, Apple delivered revenues of $89.5 billion in its fiscal Q4, with profits of $23 billion, reflecting strong demand for its iPhone line.
“Today Apple is pleased to report a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record in Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “We now have our strongest lineup of products ever heading into the holiday season, including the iPhone 15 lineup and our first carbon neutral Apple Watch models, a major milestone in our efforts to make all Apple products carbon neutral by 2030.”
Apple is seeking to improve its revenues and margins in its services business, raising prices on Apple TV+ and other subscription offerings last month. Apple TV+ now costs $9.99 per month, though it is also included in the Apple One subscription bundle, which includes products like Apple Arcade, Apple News, and extra cloud storage.
“We achieved all time revenue records across App Store, advertising, Apple Care, iCloud, payment services and video, as well as the September quarter revenue record on Apple Music,” Cook added on the earnings call.
As for Apple TV+, Cook touted Martin Scorsese’s new movie Killers of the Flower Moon, and noted the awards that ths ervice has garnered.
“We’re telling impactful stories that inspire imagination and stir the soul,” Cook said. “Making movies that make a difference is also at the heart of Apple TV+, and we were thrilled to produce Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, a powerful work of cinema that premiered in theaters around the world last month.”
Apple CFO Luca Maestri added on the call that Apple’s services division now has “well more than one billion” subscribers.
Also on the call, Cook confirmed that the company is investing significantly in generative artificial intelligence: “Obviously we have work going on, I’m not going to get into details about what it is because as you know, we don’t we really don’t do that,” Cook said in response to a question from an analyst. “But you can bet that we’re investing, we’re investing quite a bit. We’re going to do it responsibly. And you will see product advancements over time where those technologies are at the heart of them.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Apple is shuttering the Apple Music Voice plan, which let users access songs only through Siri for $4.99 per month. Apple initially announced the Voice plan in October 2021. Users who found using the app too taxing or too expensive could request music by mood — tunes for a dinner party or for studying — […]
As part of our continuing efforts to serve the music industry and its creators, Billboard now features a royalty calculator for Spotify and Apple Music for readers. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Created by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a legal and consulting firm that specializes in […]
As part of our continuing efforts to serve the music industry and its creators, Billboard now features a royalty calculator for Spotify and Apple Music for readers. The calculator below was created by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a legal and consulting firm that specializes in music industry law; and is based on the firm’s analysis […]
Apple-owned Shazam has introduced a new feature into its music identification app that will allow users to find nearby shows through recommendations based on their Shazam histories, it was announced on Wednesday (Oct. 25). The new feature, called simply Concerts, is already available to users in the Shazam app on iOS within the “My Music” […]
Apple Music Radio is coming to Apple Podcasts.
On Tuesday (Sept. 26), Apple announced that Apple Music subscribers will now be able to stream more than 2,500 “musically rich” episodes from Apple Music Radio on its podcasts app.
Apple Music’s original shows air across three global stations — Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country — and feature such top talent as Zane Lowe (The Zane Lowe Show), Ebro Darden (The Ebro Show, Hip-Hop DNA) and Kelleigh Bannen (Today’s Country Radio, The Kelleigh Bannen Show). It additionally airs artist-hosted programs including Angel Hour Radio with Reneé Rapp, Time Crisis hosted by Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, OTHERtone featuring Pharrell Williams and Deep Hidden Meaning Radio hosted by Nile Rodgers.
Apple Music’s coverage of the 2024 Apple Music Halftime Show featuring Usher will also be available to Apple Music subscribers on Apple Podcasts.
In addition to Apple Music Radio shows, Apple Podcasts will now also include audio programming for subscribers to other connected apps, including Apple News+, meditation app Calm and “playlearning” app Lingokids. Starting next month, subscribers to several more apps — including Bloomberg, Curio, L’Équipe, Mamamia, Sleep Cycle, The Economist, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, WELT News and Zen with Apple Podcasts — will be able to connect their subscriptions as well.
Listeners with subscriptions to any of these apps will have those subscriptions automatically connected the next time they open Apple Podcasts. They can also connect their subscriptions manually by signing into their accounts from each app’s channel page on Apple Podcasts. Subscribers will be able to listen across Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, HomePod, CarPlay and Apple Watch with AirPods. The company notes that Apple’s latest operating systems — iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma — are required to connect subscriptions.
Once subscriptions are connected, listeners can browse all podcasts available to them from the Library tab. They can also learn more information about each show and follow any show for free to automatically download and be notified about new episodes. They will also receive personalized recommendations in Up Next on the Listen Now tab.
Apple says it now has more than 1 billion paid subscribers to its various services, as that line of its business has hit an all-time high.
The company revealed the number in its quarterly earnings report, disclosing total revenue of 81.8 billion, a decline of 1 percent from a year ago. This is the third consecutive quarter to see a decline in revenue from Apple, thanks to slower sales of its hardware devices, like the iPhone and Mac lines. Net income was $19.9 billion.
However, its services business continues to grow at a rapid pace, hitting $21.2 billion in the quarter, up from 19.6 billion last year. Apple services include Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News, and iCloud+. It also includes subscriptions through apps on the app store. The company did not break out how many subscribers used which service, beyond the topline 1 billion figure.
On the company’s earnings call, however, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple TV+ had hit a revenue record and touted the addition of soccer superstar Lionel Messi to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami. Apple has the global exclusive rights to MLS.
“We are focused on original content and so we are all about giving great storytellers the venue to tell great stories and hopefully get us all to think a little deeper,” Cook added. “And sport is a part of that because sport is the ultimate original story.”
One thing that did not come on the call was the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes. of course, for Apple, its content business is a tiny piece of the overall pie. Apple’s total profits last quarter were nearly double Warner Bros. Discovery’s total revenue in the quarter, with WBD noting that it is firmly in the content business.
“We are happy to report that we had an all-time revenue record in Services during the June quarter, driven by over 1 billion paid subscriptions, and we saw continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone,” said Cook in a statement. “From education to the environment, we are continuing to advance our values, while championing innovation that enriches the lives of our customers and leaves the world better than we found it.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Apple Music is launching the new series Lost & Found to spotlight country songwriters and a handful of never-before-released songs. The series features six demos (the “Lost” part) in addition to versions of these songs recorded by established and rising country artists (the “Found” part).
“Need a Favor” and “Son of a Sinner” hitmaker Jelly Roll is the first artist taking part in the program with his version of “Dragging These Roots,” a song written by songwriters Ben Hayslip, Josh Thompson and Jesse Frasure that Apple Music’s team first heard in 2019.
“When Apple Music shared the concept with me, I immediately called Frasure on FaceTime from their listening room to let him know I was definitely cutting the song,” Jelly Roll told Apple Music. “I’m so grateful to Apple Music for shining a light on all these creators and their great artistry.”
“I was so excited to hear this lost song got found by Jelly Roll,” Frasure told Apple Music. “It’s one of my favorites that I’ve co-written, and I was hoping it would eventually get to see the light of day. Having one of my favorite artists and friends, Jelly Roll, be the one to cut it was icing on the cake. We had a great time going into the studio on this one, he’s a truly soulful singer behind the scenes, and he put so much heart into it. I can’t wait!”
Additionally, Apple Music is launching Lost & Found Radio, a monthly companion radio show hosted by singer/songwriter Lori McKenna, who is known for penning hits including Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind” and Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” and who just released her latest album, 1988. Each of the six Lost & Found Radio episodes will include in-depth background on each song and deep dives into the creative process with each song’s original songwriter(s), studio musicians, producers and the artists recording the songs.
The Lost & Found program will be highlighted Tuesday (July 25) with a live radio episode, beginning at 2 p.m. CT, co-hosted by Apple Music Country host Kelleigh Bannen and featuring songwriters whose works are being featured as part of Lost & Found. A Lost & Found Live Broadcast Special will air Tuesday (July 25) at noon CT.
Lost & Found will also have its own dedicated space on Apple Music where listeners can find playlists for the lost demos, the newfound singles, the Lost & Found Radio show episodes, and playlists from more participating songwriters.
“I’m so thrilled to be a part of this initiative and host the companion radio show on Apple Music Country,” McKenna said in a statement. “Every songwriter has a catalog full of lost songs. It’s exciting that Apple is bringing these almost hits to life and giving some space to these writers, and the stories behind these songs.”
“At Apple Music, we are passionate about celebrating and championing artists and creators,” said Kelleigh Bannen, Apple Music Country’s host. “From advocating for the songwriters, to highlighting the enormous wealth of untapped music, Lost & Found is emblematic of what we do every day, not just here in Nashville, but worldwide. We’re so excited to continue marching towards that mission and look forward to inviting incredible artists to partner with us in unique ways like this.”
