Apple announced that iOS 8.4 along with its premiere features—a new Music app, Apple Music, Beats 1, and Connect—would be launching on June 30, 2015. The company even created a Facebook event for the launch. Now, however, Ian Rogers, former CEO of Beats and current Senior Director of Apple Music, has written a blog post giving a precise go-live time for both iOS 8.4 and Beats 1: 8am PT and 9am PT respectively.
Tuesday morning we'll be unveiling the next chapter. Please make a note to upgrade to iOS 8.4 at 8am PT Tuesday, June 30th and listen to the first Beats 1 broadcast at 9am PT.
Apple typically puts new versions of iOS live at around 10am PT. If Apple is indeed deviating from that, it could be because this specific software launch is also tied not only to a services launch, but to a massive international media launch anchored in Los Angeles, New York, and London—Pacific, Eastern, and British Summer Time respectively.
Rogers also expounds on the importance of the launch, as he sees it:
From walking Capitol Hill post CRB ruling to sitting on the stand in White Plains all in defense of streaming radio. Add to that endless Topspin stump speeches about giving artists direct access to the people who love their art (thanks Shamal, Peter) and more recently building and releasing a human-curated, music-respecting service, Beats Music (thanks Luke, Jimmy, Trent, Dre).Seeing Apple Music on stage at WWDC this month [...] it was hard not to feel like the last 20+ years was leading to this day.
For anyone who's had a hard time wrapping their heads around Apple Music, and why a company like Apple would spend so much time and money on it, and give it top-level exposure from the company, this is why.
Apple executives almost always say what they mean on stage and what they've said about music is that it matters to the company and to them at a core level. Music is in their DNA. That doesn't mean they'll always get it right, or that it's meant to be a revenue generator like iPhone or iPad or the Mac.
It means at the very highest levels of Apple, they think there are problems in modern digital music that the company is in a unique position to solve by offering a great product and experience. In this case, a "single thought around music"—purchases, streaming, radio, locker, and social components all integrated together and available in one place.
And come Tuesday, starting at 8am PT, we'll get the first indications of how well Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine, Trent Reznor, Ian Rogers, and everyone else at Apple have done.
For more on Apple Music, see our comprehensive Apple Music FAQ, and then join us Tuesday for complete coverage.
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Apple's music streaming service boasts over 70 million songs, live radio stations anchored by renowned personalities, and thousands of curated playlists spanning every genre you can imagine.
Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.
