Beats Music launches on iOS devices

Beats has launched its much-rumored Beats Music streaming service and app, directly competing with other services like Pandora, Spotify, Rdio and Apple’s iTunes Radio. The service is heavily built on curation, with Beats hiring music experts from publications like Pitchfork and DJs from some of the most listened to radio stations around the country to curate stations, playlists and to make sure the music catalog of 20 million songs allows for “great listening choices”. 

Beats Music throws its hat into an already crowded ring occupied by existing services like Pandora, Spotify, Rdio and Apple’s own iTunes Radio. The newcomer is moving in a different direction, however, with a subscription-only pay structure that looks to stand out with better content discovery. According to the app’s release notes and company website, Beats Music is a “new kind of streaming service” that leverages input from music experts and machine algorithms for content discovery. Over 20 million songs from a wide variety of genres are on tap for both streaming and offline listening.