As far as the world of music streaming is concerned, Spotify has ruled the roost for the last number of years, with few real competitors. Yet now it seems there is a challenger waiting in the wings, primed to take on Spotify and its market dominance. Spotify is currently the number one music streaming platform but this is under threat from a formidable challenger – Apple. Formidable because there are few companies so adept at successful diversification across a range of technological areas as Apple is.

Apple announced the arrival of its newest product at the WWDC 2015 event and plans to introduce Apple Music into the global market in June 2015. The company plans to launch it on a grand scale with the service becoming available on PCs, Macs and Apple mobile devices in about 100 countries. The company has also announced plans to release Apple Music as an app on android devices with monthly charges of around $US10 .What may come as a welcome surprise to many is Apple’s plan to allow Apple Music subscribers to use the application for free for the first three months. The tech giant is also offering family plans of $15 per month for 6 family members.

What is Apple Music?

Apple Music  will function in two ways:

– a 24/7 Internet Radio called Beats 1

– an on-demand streaming portion that will directly challenge Spotify’s market segment

The Beats 1 Radio is set to be a throwback to the good old days of Radio, featuring a traditional always-on radio station playing tunes chosen by real-time DJs. The live feeds of the Beats 1 Radio will be based in 3 major cities around the world, Los Angeles, New York and London.  Apple has certainly decided not to rest on its laurels and is looking to pack Apple Music with a plethora of features.

Apple Music comes with an innovative interactive service known as Connect which would allow the artists to upload their photos, social media messages and lyrics directly from social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and even the official artist websites. Connect would allow the fans to have direct access to their favorite musical personalities, allowing them to like and comment on the posts of their favourite artists.

When the music stops who will be left standing?

Does this signal the end to ‘buying’ music as we know it? Moving to a streaming service like Apple Music allows you to listen to tracks and albums on demand but when the payments stop, so does the music. You never own the music and if you listen to the same 10 tracks every month, the price is the same – every month. Good news for the music industry and record labels but maybe less-so for consumers?