Apple Launches Ten Holiday-Themed iTunes Radio Stations

[MacRumors]

A few weeks out from Christmas, Apple has turned on nearly a dozen holiday-themed iTunes Radio stations that offer a variety of genres from sing-a-longs for kids to old seasonal classics.

The ten stations include: Children's Christmas Holiday Sing-Along, Country Holiday, Classical Holiday, Holiday Classics, Holiday Hits, Latin Holiday, Rockin' Holiday, Soulful Holiday, Swingin' Holiday and The Sounds of Christmas.

Only a handful of the stations are readily available in the Featured Stations section on the front of the iTunes Radio tab, but all of them can be found with a quick search.

iTunes Match subscribers can listen to the stations ad-free, as per usual, but non-subscribers can expect occasional advertisements between songs.

The Christmas themed stations can be added to users' My Stations lists now, in iTunes on Mac and PC, and in the Music app on iOS. iTunes Radio remains available only in the United States and Australia, despite rumors of additional "early 2014" expansions.

Article Link: Apple Launches Ten Holiday-Themed iTunes Radio Stations

 

[HackerJL]

Canada?

Being 15 minutes from the US border and not getting this is getting a little stupid. iTunes Match asked me for renewal earlier this week....wondering if thats worth another year. Come on Apple!

 

[Traverse]

'Tis the season.

 

[lolkthxbai]

Being 15 minutes from the US border and not getting this is getting a little stupid. iTunes Match asked me for renewal earlier this week....wondering if thats worth another year. Come on Apple!

Can't you just create a US Apple ID to listen to iTunes Radio?

 

[W2u7Yw4HaD]

Can't you just create a US Apple ID to listen to iTunes Radio?

Yeah you can.. Problem solved and what I do here in Europe..

 

[teslo]

the last thing anyone really needs to do is seek out Xmas music. is being inundated 24/7 everywhere by everybody not enough...?

 

[HackerJL]

Can't you just create a US Apple ID to listen to iTunes Radio?

When my life is on the canadian iTunes, appletv's etc, its not super easy.

If I hand the remote to my wife and tell her if she wants to listen to iTunes radio, go, here, here and sign in with this username. And then if you want to listen to our stuff, go back and undo what you just did....results in a remote flying at my head.

This is apple, king of 'easy and streamlined', I should not have to jump through any hoops.

 

[malexandria]

12 Days of Christmas App

When do we get the annual 12 days of Christmas App? Which usually only has 2 or 3 actual worthwhile freebees?

 

[H.Finch]

Wow, what a messy interface...

 

[oddnendz]

the last thing anyone really needs to do is seek out Xmas music. is being inundated 24/7 everywhere by everybody not enough...?

no, there is never enough Christmas music.... and on Pandora and Spotify, you can get it 24/7, 365 days a year....

 

[DavidLeblond]

Too late, I say. I put my Christmas tree up the weekend following Thanksgiving every year, and that's really the only time I put on Christmas music. We were fueled by Pandora this year.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Wow, really wonder what the stations here in Europe play.

*hint hint nudge nudge*

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[odditie]

the last thing anyone really needs to do is seek out Xmas music. is being inundated 24/7 everywhere by everybody not enough...?

To your point...if you were going to a grocery store wouldn't you expect it to sell Milk? If it is something that is everywhere, don't you think a service that provides music should provide Christmas music during Christmas time?

 

[dannyyankou]

Wow, what a messy interface...

It looks messy because they're 2 different screenshots side by side that make it look like 1. Here's what they look like separately.

 

[Graig]

iTunes Radio in Canada. Now that would be quite a concept.

 

[vp719]

iTunes radio is just awful. I've been trying to create my own Christmas stations on there for a few days and it's ridiculously bad. I made a TransSiberrian Orchestra station this morning, the second song was Toby Keith non-holiday country, third song was nickleback. What the hell are they doing? Hopefully these stations are actually holiday songs...

 

[HarryKeogh]

Country Holiday?!

Bizarro-World HarryKeogh can't wait to tune in!

 

[dannyyankou]

iTunes Radio in Canada. Now that would be quite a concept.

Eh, you don't want it. It's nothing too special. But Spotify was made available in Canada very recently.

 

[DaveMcM76]

Brilliant.... if only I lived in one of the TWO countries in the world where iTunes Radio was actually available...

Forget more stations, lets try for some more countries first please Apple.

 

[jonnyb098]

There was an article a while back that mentioned that Apple execs had no idea what Spotify was and thought iTunes radio would do the job to compete properly. So they spend 3 billion on beats to do what Spotify and Pandora have been doing for years.

Kind of crazy when you think about it.

 

[blueroom]

When my life is on the canadian iTunes, appletv's etc, its not super easy.

If I hand the remote to my wife and tell her if she wants to listen to iTunes radio, go, here, here and sign in with this username. And then if you want to listen to our stuff, go back and undo what you just did....results in a remote flying at my head.

This is apple, king of 'easy and streamlined', I should not have to jump through any hoops.

It's not Apple doing this, it's cross border media rights issues eh.

 

[JAT]

the last thing anyone really needs to do is seek out Xmas music. is being inundated 24/7 everywhere by everybody not enough...?

This month is such a pain. I don't celebrate this silly holiday, and have really come to loath the hypocrisy. Inundated is right, I can't even listen to the radio (old, fm radio) in December.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

Apple should integrate Beats to iTunes at no cost and make it part of iTunes Match.

 

[nburwell]

Country Holiday?!

Eeek!

Classical holiday is the only station probably worth checking out. For me at least.

 

[teslo]

To your point...if you were going to a grocery store wouldn't you expect it to sell Milk? If it is something that is everywhere, don't you think a service that provides music should provide Christmas music during Christmas time?

my comment was directed more at those who seek it, not those who provide it.