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.
Reader comments
iOS 8.4 reportedly launching June 30 at 8am PT, Beats 1 at 9am
How about if you are on ios9 beta 2? Will beta 3 launch at the same time in order for Apple music to start working?
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According to @cue on Twitter, new beta with Apple Music features will be provided. (He didn't say precisely when, though.)
I'm on iOS 8.4 Public Beta and Music functions are there, just don't work yet... My guess is the iOS9 betas are the same. I got the sign-up screen for Music last week... And just had it come up on my iPad...
I'm curious: Has anyone noted that the BBC Radio model will make Beats1 a natural fit for an international audience? Yes, it may be somewhat new for an American audience but the BBC World Service is one of the few radio markets I know of (I admit to be no expert.) that has an international reach.
I wish I could read this blog. The text is too washed out and low contrast. I can't read what I'm typing!! Why does it have to be this way? What's it going to hurt to darken the text? Beats 1 is a horrible name for a radio station. IMO!
The text is pretty much black on white (apart from the quotes), I've viewed it on several devices and it's pretty easy to read, you might need a better display
It will launch at 9am MST where I live
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Hey Rene, do you think it makes sense to launch 8.4 and then 1 hour later Beats 1? Seems like a recipe for disaster as Apple's servers will be jammed with people trying to download the update. No way a sizable enough base will be upgraded to 8.4 when Beats 1 comes on the air. Why not launch it 24 hours later?
I agree launch Beats 1 the next day not everyone will be able to download iOS 8.4 because some people will be at work or on vacation or away from Wi-Fi
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I'm hoping to have it on my Apple TV on time.
Launching iOS update one hour before launch seems optimistic? Half the world will miss the first ever broadcast because they are still downloading 8.4 surely?
Will 8.4 include support for UK Apple Pay too do we think?
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Anyone notice iTunes Match is called iCloud Music Library in iOS 8.4 beta
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So will Beats 1 be simulcast around the world? Will it matter that a mid-afternoon broadcast time in London will be middle of the night in Australia?
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I've been looking forward to giving this a try. I especially want to hear what Beats 1. I like the idea of a "radio" station that's about the music first. Right now I pay for Spotify. If this new service is as good as Spotify I may switch to it. Either way I don't care to own a massive library of music. I just want to be able to stream what I like as the my mood sees fit.
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The kind of blew it. Should've moved the launch up one day. 40th anniversary and all