Today at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced Apple Music, its highly-anticipated music service, which will launch June 30. The new offering will include a revolutionary music service curated by the leading music experts rather than algorithms; a 24/7 global radio service, “Beats 1”, that will be available in over 100 countries and anchored by popular DJs such as Zane Lowe, broadcast from three cities around the world, providing music, interviews, and more; and “Connect”, a portal where artists can share content with fans in a social network, uploading their own videos, song clips, photos, lyrics, thoughts, and more. Fans will be able to like and comment on artist posts.
The new service will be built into the redesigned iOS Music app that will provide access to the user’s own libraries as before, in addition to all of the streamed content available, along with human-curated, user-specific playlists and recommendations, as well as the new Beats 1 radio station, and the Connect portal.
Apple Music will launch in more than 100 countries later this month alongside iOS 8.4 and a new version of iTunes for the Mac and Windows; an Android version will also be coming this fall. The service will be priced at $10/month for individual users, or $15/month for a family plan that will allow up to six family members to share the same subscription with separate accounts. A three-month free trial will also be available.