Apple in Talks for On-Demand Streaming Music Service, Considering Android iTunes App

Having à service like Spotify integrated with Siri would be great when running.

Please do it

I think it would be great and have been hoping they would do it. Spotify is the only decent service out there with the perfect mix of discovery, radio and songs on demand BUT it just doesn't integrate well enough. Play buttons on ios/mac default back to music/iTunes and if I ask Siri to play something there's no way she's opening spotify to do it.
If it's <= spotify in cost and there's a limited free version it will be perfect. Just perfect!

They need a Spotify-like play whatever you want service where you can pay $15 per month and download for keeps $15 worth of music each month. Everybody wins. The music industry starts selling music again and we get to stream songs that we don't want to pay for beyond the $15. Plus people like me will still go past $15 some months. Or let us download $10 worth and use the $5 extra for streaming rights. Use it or lose it, you wouldn't carry any of that $15 to the next month.

iTunes on Android - that rumor's gotta be bunk. Who the hell needs that piece of bloatware on their presumably already carrier bloated Android phones? Besides there are already a ton of streaming choices and great music apps on Android.

Apple should port over Pages, Keynote and Numbers along with iTunes U and may be the Airport app to Android. I could see that being useful.

UWF404 said:

They should buy Spotify. I feel like iTunes UI has gone to hell over the years. I think Apple would benefit from Spotify

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Paying billions for a UI seems kind of craZy. Especially as Spotify hasn't been revered for great design.

Please for the love of God, make it happen!

Yes, this is a very good move from Apple. I love Spotify, I think it's so much better then iRadio, simply because I love to choose my own artist and tracks and I'm more then happy to pay for it.

Apple has a groundbreaking amount of music in it's itunes store, to make all of that streaming for a monthly payment would be truly a real contester to spotify...

Mind though that Spotify had years of experiences in this field, Spotify is so much more then "just" choosing your tracks, you can join music rooms, put together a music list by voting, there is a karaoke plugin and tens of other free plugins that provide you realtime with lyrics of the song you're listening to, or plugins to discover various new artist.

So if this becomes reality from Apple then I wonder if Apple will be able to pull this of..

Anyway, I wish Apple all the best.

Jessica Lares said:

Not the point I'm trying to make.

The same people who criticize Apple for everything, who refuse to use Apple products, who throw names at those who use iOS and/or Macs, are going to turn right around and become Apple customers.

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Why would they? Do you expect Apple service to be better or cheaper? They are not known for either. People did use iTunes on Windows for their iPods but that's different. If you had a PC and iPod then you had to use iTunes on Windows. Android phone owner has no such "incentives". They will be free to chose between iTunes, Spotify, Google etc. and I see no reason for them to go with iTunes.

Semester said:

Paying billions for a UI seems kind of craZy. Especially as Spotify hasn't been revered for great design.

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It's better then iTunes, that's pretty clear to me. I find iTunes outdated, and not compelling.

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With the possibility of targeting Android for a release of iTunes, it sounds more like a Play Music competitor than a Spotify one to me.

lilo777 said:

Why would they? Do you expect Apple service to be better or cheaper? They are not known for either. People did use iTunes on Windows for their iPods but that's different. If you had a PC and iPod then you had to use iTunes on Windows. Android phone owner has no such "incentives". They will be free to chose between iTunes, Spotify, Google etc. and I see no reason for them to go with iTunes.

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I agree, there is still Spotify, and Spotify is hard to beat.

But.... Apple already has an impressive large library of music content, I think even biggen then that of Spotify, of all of that would be possible to listen on own choosing by paying less then Spotify I would seriously think to step over, hopefully in a new app, no itunes for me.

I actually like and use iTunes Radio a lot. I would be all for a paid streaming service but I like the other idea someone mentioned, about a paid video streaming service.

I think my wife and I would love it if Apple came out with a Spotify type player. She prefers spotify to iTunes Radio, but hates the commercials. I refuse to pay a subscription when we already have iTunes Radio. I would love it simply so we don't argue over this anymore

Would love some the tools like imessage, facetime, iTunes, etc to expand as a way to draw people into the apple world, but I doubt that is really an apple strategy. they have only tried this with iTunes on window and I haven't seen them put any more effort into that. Now taking it to the cloud as they did with iworks, that may be another way to go.

Why did it take Apple so long to figure out the Spotify model is what people want?

Yogomi said:

Enough with the streaming music services. We need a streaming television service that includes AMC, Comedy Central, the likes and premium offerings similar to HBOGO.

-Y.

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You mean Netflix???

topmounter said:

I'm happy as long as Apple doesn't buy Spotify.

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Yes apple should leave it alone.

Love spotify

Too little, too late.

Sounds like it might be 'a good thing.' I'll take Apple streaming over Google-play or whatever it is called as I'm really getting tired of Google forcing users to join google+ and changing profiles on YouTube. I hope (I don't believe) Apple doesn't become like Google. Music nowadays sucks! Many of the artists sucks, their songs sucks…….. and many of us are bored-to-tears of the same ole' thing.

TRS-80 said:

Why did it take Apple so long to figure out the Spotify model is what people want?

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Good question.

Same with movies, more and more people like to pay one fixed prize for unlimited renting movies online, I'm one of the last of the Mohicans who actually buying blu-rays but that's because I'm a movie lover.

Anyway, streaming services with a fixed prize works, look at HBO, Netflix (which I don't like due of jaw dropping poor quality of artistic movies but that aside) and Spotify.

Yes, Spotify cost money if you don't want any commercials but you get soooo much value for a monthly payment, both me and my girlfriend love spotify.

I think this opens up other possibilities.....

If this rumor is true that Apple is considering an iTunes app for Android, then perhaps this could mean being able to port something to LINUX so that people wouldn't have to rely on WINE.

I think that would be a smart move. After all, why not spend the money you saved on an OS (and possibly the hardware as well) on iTunes store purchases? This could also open up possibilities for AppleTV streaming with LINUX OSes and possibly even more compatibility in the future with native support. ooooooh.

Jessica Lares said:

Not the point I'm trying to make.

The same people who criticize Apple for everything, who refuse to use Apple products, who throw names at those who use iOS and/or Macs, are going to turn right around and become Apple customers.

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probably not though because I doubt Apples pricing will be superior here.

xtwentyseven said:

They need a Spotify-like play whatever you want service where you can pay $15 per month and download for keeps $15 worth of music each month. Everybody wins. The music industry starts selling music again and we get to stream songs that we don't want to pay for beyond the $15. Plus people like me will still go past $15 some months. Or let us download $10 worth and use the $5 extra for streaming rights. Use it or lose it, you wouldn't carry any of that $15 to the next month.

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This was the exact model of Zune Pass, which was by far the best service back in the day (before Spotify or Google All Access came to the US). To be honest, it was kind of a hassle to plan my "keeper" downloads every month. Now I like the idea of having my ripped music collection in the cloud within the same service as the service as a subscription model for new albums and discovery. Right now, Google is the only service that does that. Spotify is the best cross-platform service. So I have both for now. Apple will probably follow suit. Despite this rumor, I have no confidence that it would have a good Android experience (if it comes at all). Apple is just not very good at Music service software, even on its own platform.

Four oF NINE said:

I still think there's something to be said for owning copies of particular music tunes. Those streaming services are more like rentals.

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True, but most music today is like a cheap polyester tux; can be decent at first blush but by then end of the night it's down right annoying.

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Not sure I understand the logic of iTunes for Android. Seems smarter to just make hardware compatible w/ Android users needs (yes, a larger version iPhone while keeping the current size, both w/ identical feature set) and just convert them 100% to Apple.

I have to wonder if Apple would lose more customers than gain if they launched iTunes on Android.

How Apple users have been tempted to try Android, but continued to buy Apple because they have a huge iTunes collection?

How many Android users who already have a music ecosystem would switch to iTunes on Android?

I'm guessing the first would outnumber the second... As someone who switched from iPhone to Android, I wouldn't have done it if I had a bunch of media in iTunes.