APPLE: Re-Enters Steaming Music Wars

After a few false starts Apple is once again going to battle for its share of the streaming music business. The company announced its latest foray at its Worldwide Developers Conference Monday in San Francisco.

The new subscription service, called Apple Music, will feature some of the music curation aspects from Beats Music, the subscription service Apple got when it acquired Beats Electronics last year for $3 billion. Beats 1 will feature live DJs designed to guide users through the music.

Apple executive Jimmy Iovine said of Apple Music, "It's all the ways you love music, all in one place. Algorithms can't do it all. You need the human touch."

Like Jay Z's Tidal, Apple has also lined up some big-name artists in a bid to give it credibility, including Dr. Dre, who came on board with the Beats purchase, as well as Nine Inch Nails' mastermind Trent Reznor, Pharrell and Drake, who appeared on stage to talk about Connect, a new future that let's artists share material with fans through the app.

The new service will be priced at $9.99 a month for a single user or $14.99 a month for a family of up to six users. It'll be available on June 30th. (USA Today, Rolling Stone)

Say What:

    Although its late in the streaming music game, Apple will likely win, since so many people have iPhones.

    Apple's too late. Spotify and Pandora already have their faithful customers.

    People still love terrestrial radio. It's in their car and easy to access.