Apple launches the music streaming and rocking in a … – BBC

Sale of applications, data hosting, content rental: the share of its revenues from services is growing

Apple made its comeback in the music. Its CEO, Tim Cook, Apple announced Monday Music, a subscription music listening service. It will be offered on the iPhone since June 30 in a hundred countries for $ 9.99 per month, then the Android smartphone this fall. The catalog will include several million titles, it will be possible to listen without limit.

Since the launch of the iTunes Music Store in April 2003, Apple continued to play the same refrain. He was selling songs and albums by unit. “People prefer to hold their music,” Steve Jobs hammered. His public began to hear another word. For two years, the Apple model has continued to lose ground in favor of streaming. Spotify and Deezer totaled more than 41 million subscribers to their subscription music packages. With smartphones, connected 4G, it constantly accesses pieces of his choice. The major Warner Music now generates more revenue per streaming. The trend is the same in the French market. Revenues increase by streaming 12% until 2019, according to PwC.

Like an old glory of music, Apple has the means to sign the return and open a “new chapter” according to Tim Cook. He acquired for $ 3 billion Beats, helmet manufacturer and publisher of a streaming service, led by iconic producer Jimmy Iovine. It has increased the hiring of music specialists, who will create personal playlists in addition to those suggested by algorithms. Apple will also offer a Music World Radio, Beats One, which will broadcast from three cities, New York, Los Angeles and London. It will be integrated with the voice assistant Siri, which can for example find the most popular songs of the year his option or disseminate the most listened songs in a particular genre.

The success of streaming based on the ability to discover new artists, and retain and subscribers. The launch of Apple Music into Apple’s strategy, which attempts to uncover new sources of recurring revenue. It is no longer just sell devices with high margins, but also take full advantage of its fleet of aircraft. In short, winning twice. Apple has the bank details of more than 800 million customers. In the first three months of 2015 it generated nearly $ 5 billion in revenue through the services – a record – almost as much as the revenues from the Mac and the iPad. This covers subscriptions storage service iCloud, commissions on sales of applications, from payments in apple pay, or the iAd advertising.

This paradigm shift requires significant infrastructure investment . Apple is building two new data processing centers in Denmark and Ireland, at a cost of 1.7 billion euros. They disseminate content faster to Europeans.

Apple thinks big for these new services. According to Associated Press, he would seek 100 million subscribers in futures music streaming, or 1 billion in monthly sales. Apple default install Apple Music application on all devices. “With their strike force, they will boost the market,” anticipated Guillaume Leblanc, director general of SNEP, the trade association of music producers in France. This service would become a major source of income. This would be a first salvo, before launching a similar offer in television next year.