Apple plans a dramatic reboot of its Apple Music streaming service, which it will reveal at the tech giant's Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Although the advent of iTunes in 2001 made Apple something of a digital music trailblazer, revenue from music sold via the media player and library's online store has been declining as music streaming has become consumers' preferred method of paying for music, at least in the US. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, revenue from music streaming overtook profits from permanent downloads in the US for the first time last year.
Making a late entry into the music-streaming market, Apple Music debuted on its devices in many countries, including SA, on 30 June 2015. The service offers users a three-month free trial, after which South African users pay R59.99 per month for unlimited streaming, as well as downloading tracks they would like to save offline (which become unavailable when the user unsubscribes from the service).
While Apple Music was the first major streaming service to become available in SA - Google Play Music arrived in SA in December, and Spotify remains unavailable to local consumers - it faces stiff competition from these rivals, plus a host of others, internationally.
While the clout afforded Apple by iTunes' legacy means Apple Music offers users an extensive library of content, common complaints about the platform include frequent glitches, a confusing user interface, and poor analytics for suggesting new music to users based on their existing preferences.
The revamp will reportedly yield a simpler, more intuitive user interface, and a bold aesthetic redesign. "The new user-interface ditches the current colourful and translucent look in favour of a simpler design that emphasises black and white backgrounds and text," reports tech Web site 9to5Mac. It adds that musicians' album art will be enlarged and centred to prevent the black-and-white aesthetic from becoming visually dull.
The reboot will also introduce the official integration of song lyrics into the platform, with Apple co-operating with recording labels to co-ordinate this process, 9to5Mac reports.
While the "For You" tab, which recommends new music to users, will reportedly be revamped as well, there are no indications that this includes reworking its suggestion algorithms.
Apple Music's accompanying online radio service is also set for expansion, according to Bloomberg.
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