After months of teases and a username reservation program, the Beats Music streaming service is officially launching in the U.S. today.
Just as we learned earlier this month, pricing for the service is set at $9.99 per month or $119.88 per year for unlimited access to the Beats catalog of music, which is said to contain more than 20 million tracks. AT&T and Beats have teamed up to offer a special deal to the carrier's family plan customers that is priced at $14.99 per month and includes 5 accounts that can be used across 10 devices. AT&T customers can also get a free 90-day free trial before signing up, while everyone else can test out Beats Music for 7 days before forking over any cash.
Beats Music is available on the web and also as dedicated iOS and Android apps. A Windows Phone app is also planned, but Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers has revealed that that app won't launch until this Friday, Jan. 24.
While Beats Music allows users to seek out and listen to specific content just like any other streaming service, the big focus for Beats is on curation. The service offers playlists and Highlights that are created by music experts from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and more. Another tentpole feature of Beats is Right Now, which is a sentence that users fill in with information about where they are, what they're doing, who they're with and what kind of music they want to hear. After completing the sentence, Beats Music will serve up a playlist of music that it thinks is appropriate for that situation.
There's certainly no shortage of streaming music options available today, with services like Spotify, Rdio, Pandora and more all vying for your ears and your cash. So far Beats Music looks like a nice enough offering with attractive mobile apps and a focus on personal curation. Whether or not those features are enough to tempt users of other services to switch and convince other consumers to sign up for their first paid service remains to be seen, but the fact that the Beats name is attached is sure to get many folks to at least look into the new service.
Are you planning on checking out Beats Music now that it's finally live?
Via Beats Music, WPCentral, @iancr, Beats Music apps: App Store, Google Play
Just as we learned earlier this month, pricing for the service is set at $9.99 per month or $119.88 per year for unlimited access to the Beats catalog of music, which is said to contain more than 20 million tracks. AT&T and Beats have teamed up to offer a special deal to the carrier's family plan customers that is priced at $14.99 per month and includes 5 accounts that can be used across 10 devices. AT&T customers can also get a free 90-day free trial before signing up, while everyone else can test out Beats Music for 7 days before forking over any cash.
Beats Music is available on the web and also as dedicated iOS and Android apps. A Windows Phone app is also planned, but Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers has revealed that that app won't launch until this Friday, Jan. 24.
While Beats Music allows users to seek out and listen to specific content just like any other streaming service, the big focus for Beats is on curation. The service offers playlists and Highlights that are created by music experts from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and more. Another tentpole feature of Beats is Right Now, which is a sentence that users fill in with information about where they are, what they're doing, who they're with and what kind of music they want to hear. After completing the sentence, Beats Music will serve up a playlist of music that it thinks is appropriate for that situation.
There's certainly no shortage of streaming music options available today, with services like Spotify, Rdio, Pandora and more all vying for your ears and your cash. So far Beats Music looks like a nice enough offering with attractive mobile apps and a focus on personal curation. Whether or not those features are enough to tempt users of other services to switch and convince other consumers to sign up for their first paid service remains to be seen, but the fact that the Beats name is attached is sure to get many folks to at least look into the new service.
Are you planning on checking out Beats Music now that it's finally live?
Via Beats Music, WPCentral, @iancr, Beats Music apps: App Store, Google Play
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