“Tunes Radio, Apple’s Pandora-style internet radio service, is going behind the $10 per month Apple Music paywall on January 29th,” Brendan Klinkenberg reports for BuzzFeed News. “Apple announced the move on Friday in an email to customers. Launched in 2013, iTunes Radio was an ad-supported streaming service that was available in the U.S. and Australia.”
Klinkenberg reports, “‘We are making Beats 1 the premier free broadcast from Apple and phasing out the ad-supported stations at the end of January,’ an Apple spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. ‘Additionally, with an Apple Music membership, listeners can access dozens of radio stations curated by our team of music experts, covering a range of genres, commercial-free with unlimited skips. The free three-month trial of Apple Music includes radio.'”
“The move from an ad-supported model follows Apple’s recent exit from the advertising business,” Klinkenberg reports. “On Wednesday, BuzzFeed News reported that Apple’s iAds division — which sold advertising to be displayed within iOS applications — was shutting down. iTunes Radio’s move from ads to subscription is directly related to that, a source familiar with the situation confirmed [to] BuzzFeed News.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Makes sense. Yet another “sound” reason to have an Apple Music membership.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
