“As the world’s most popular music store, iTunes has access to thousands of new songs every week. And you’ll hear some of that music on iTunes Radio before you hear it anywhere else. Whether it’s an exclusive track from an up-and-coming band or a pre-release of the next big hit,” Little Apple writes for Seeking Alpha.
“The fact that Apple will offer exclusive songs will give it an edge over all of the competition,” Little Apple writes. “There is not any doubt that a free radio service of this caliber will be an instant success, which will translate into more sales, because listeners will have to (and want to) purchase new iOS 7 devices to access the exclusive music.”
Little Apple writes, “iTunes Radio looks like it will be a much needed shot in the arm for Apple stock, even though it may not take off before the end of the year. But I think it will ultimately boost the share price at the expense of Google and Pandora Radio. Google does not rely on its radio service for revenue like Pandora does, and so its stock should not be affected by iTunes Radio. But Pandora is going to be facing some serious competition. And that company may not survive. I look for Sirius to continue on its own upward path as car sales increase, oblivious to anything that Apple does until someone develops WiFi that has more coverage than satellite.”
Read more in the full article here.
Looking forward to iTunes Radio, but it will have no bearing on my use of SiriusXM in my car. I guess it could possibly impact the use on home stereos, but I don’t use it that way. I do feel sorry for Pandora though.
What kind of friggin’ idiot would give a simple and unoffensive statement like this a “very poor” rating? If you have an issue with it then make a comment you lazy twit.
Welcome to the Internet, where 12-yr olds and 50-yr olds who act like 12-yr olds have a voice and a vote.
You talking about me?
Wow. Classless.
Your use of Sirius shows you must be at least 50. It’s an old habit. Evolution if technology and streaming will soon make your satellite radio obsolete.
I agree with Music Man. I cancelled my XM home radio but will keep it – for now – in the vehicle. Definitely looking forward to iTunes Radio.
I just hope is not another Maps deal. AAPL cannot take another failed project. Hopefully they will call it iRadio Beta, just a hobby. In any case I do not think it will be big enough “shot in the arm” to cause AAPL to go up. That needs a new iPhone.
I do question the worry the author has that it would take WiFi coverage to compete with Serius on satellite. iTunes Radio will be on cellular won’t it? Just like Pandora, huh?
I use the Maps app in LA, the Bay Area and NYC. It started out OK and has seriously evolved.
Pretty far from a “failed project.”
You’re probably right, iRadio probably won’t make the stock jump. But hopefully it will be a very nice feature/service. It’s just one more thing that Apple has to pull people into the ecosystem. And keep them. If done well. Services is where the money is in the future. Not hardware.
Indeed. WiFi, seriously fast WiFi, is becoming ubiquitous. That’s a game changer vis-a-vis satellite radio.
LTE could spell the end of satellite delivery.
Apple is striving for a place in the dashboard. This is the next battleground.
I’ve been using iTunes Radio in the car, and it works wonderfully over my LTE connection. I do have a Sirius/XM subscription as well, and iTunes Radio won’t make me cancel it, but iTunes Radio is already better than Pandora IMO.
I totally agree.
uhhh…you are joking, right?
“Services is where the money is in the future. Not hardware.”
Who is making all the profit with higher margins in the cell phone market? Apple is.
Computers? Apple is.
see a pattern here?
True. A better statement would have been “Services are what get people to buy the hardware, which is where the money is.”
Maps is not a failed project. Apple owners know that Apple fumbled the ball but recovered it, and then restarted their drive to the goal line using a relentless ground game.
Stay tune for the next Maps touchdowns. iRadio will be a big hit.
“Can’t innovate anymore, my ass.”
I have been using iTunes radio for 2 weeks. Before I would use pandora all the time. iTunes radio gives me a much better selection of music. With pandora it was always only the hits, with iTunes radios they play a lot of deep tracks for me which I like a lot.
The interface and the ads are not distracting like pandora either. The ads are music ads for new tracks or artists or the iTunes festival. The ads flow very well with what I am listening to. I won’t got back to pandora now.
With pandora it was always only the hits
Yeah, that’s become my problem with Pandora. My favorite station used to introduce me to so much new music; now it just plays the stuff I’ve thumbed up and almost nothing else. I’ve resigned myself to having to start a new station if I ever want to hear something new. (Pandora also thinks I’m obsessed with a band I barely like, just because I used one of their songs as a “seed”.)
As for the ads, though, I would expect them to be more varied once the service goes officially live.
——RM
“With pandora it was always only the hits”
Funny, I always had the opposite opinion of Pandora. For me it seemed like all the songs I wanted to hear they only had live versions or some “brand x” version. Spotify has been better for more predictably discovering music, but I have been impressed to date with iTunes Radio. It’s organic, like Pandora, but with a better selection of cuts AND it appears to be smarter about populating “stations” with songs that, while not identical to the seed, fit the taste and style of the seed with just enough variation to keep it interesting and surprising. And while I have not yet purchased a new song from iTunes Radio, I’ve come close to hitting the button and like knowing that capability is there. I think people are going to like it a lot.
Agreed, iTunes Radio plays a much broader selection of music. Pandora has become like listening to the radio – gone are the days that you will constantly discover new music there. Even if you start out with a very obscure artist, it quickly switches to more common things within two or three songs.
One of the reason that iTunes radio knows what you like more so than pandora is that if you buy songs from Apple through iTunes or have iTunes match turned on Apple already knows what music you like and buy, and will adjust the stream to YOUR kind of music, Pandora does not have this insight into what YOU like. Pandora can only learn when You tell it. iTunes radio will be huge for Apple. I have used it from the first beta iOS and now in beta in iTunes and it works flawlessly, and the more I listen to it the bigger the variety of songs I get. A lot of the song I heard growing up and forgot about them and it is refreshing to here them again and say wow! I remember that back in high school. That was a good song.
I look forward to using iTunes Radio. As an iTunes Match subscriber, the no-ads will be nice. I don’t expect to cancel Spotify as it’s more of a “rent a collection” service — no need to buy new albums. iTR will hopefully do a good job of introducing new music.
Oh, and I’ll keep enjoying Sirius XM that’s bundled with my DISH service.
A year from now, most of the nay-sayers (as usual) will realize how huge the iTunes Radio announcement really was.
SShhhhh… don’t say biggest and best too loudly – That’ll make somebody want to sue Apple.
I’ve had SiriusXM for 9 years and will not give it up. I have the home radio (which I can bring into any vehicle) , online and moblie access and love it. I also listen to Pandora, iTunes (Internet radio station) and I also donate to public alt radio station I like. But here is where SiriusXM comes in strong for me. I like to drive to remote area (camp etc) these ares have no cell phone coverage but my SiriusXM will play me my music, news and live sports.
Unfortunately when iTunes Radio launches it will be in the USA only and will slowly make its way to other countries but that will take time. Especially since the music and movies industry still is stuck in year 1800 and dies not know about the Internets and such so a new deal has to be struck in each fuken country…
Pandora will get some competition especially since they for some reason aren’t allowed to stream to costumers outside the US. I used them allot until one day I was just closed off. Apparently the musi industry don’t want them to make money….
Sirius will have it harder and harder too. I think it’s a dying industry in the long term. Most Sirius subscriptions comes from new care sales I believe, so it’s not really anything people are selecting in their own. What will happen in the future and I think this evolution is unavoidable is that there will be streaming services in the car via the mobile network. So you buy a car with Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Radio or what have you. Sirius may have some exclusive programming but that’s it.