Previously, users had to subscribe to Beat Music on the service's website, allowing Beats to bypass Apple's 70 / 30 split with developers, which would result in the Cupertino company netting $3 a month from Beats Music's $10-a-month fee for every subscriber Beats adds within the app.What's New in Version 1.0.7
You asked for it, and we listened! Some highlights in this release include:
- In-app subscription and account management via your iTunes account
- Find Your Friends -- find and follow your Facebook friends on Beats Music
- Improved Facebook and Twitter account management
- Thousands of new tracks available in The Sentence
- Artist Offers -- discover new content and merchandise from your favorite artists
- Offline Mode & Downloading improvements
- Music Player performance fixes
Beats CEO Ian Rogers tells Re/code that the company made its decision to add in-app subscriptions, and therefore submit to the 70 / 30 split, when it found that more than half of its users used iPhones, making it difficult to get an iOS user to subscribe with no in-app subscription option.
Other music streaming services like Rdio and Rhapsody also sell subscriptions in-app, although Rdio's in-app subscription price was raised from $10 a month to $15 a month to make up for Apple's cut. Spotify, however, does not offer in-app subscriptions, though it does offer a free, ad-supported mode available in its app.
Beats Music is available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Article Link: 'Beats Music' Updated With In-App Subscriptions, Offline Mode and More