Jamaica to benefit from Apple Music’s expansion - Industry stakeholders say access helps to level the playing field

APPLE MUSIC has touched down in 52 new countries as of last Tuesday, April 21 – Jamaica being one of several from the Caribbean region. It is an expansion that industry stakeholders agree was no easy undertaking, but has been long overdue.

“Our streaming numbers have been disproportionately impacted by the absence of Apple Music and other platforms like Spotify in the region and in Africa, where our music is very popular,” said Julian Jones-Griffith, artiste manager and CEO of music publishing agency Pop Style Music.

“The first thing record labels look at is how much an artiste is streaming, when these platforms haven’t even been available in our core market, which inevitably means the numbers are distorted. (So) this is going to help level the playing field for us, bring in more revenue,” he continued.

Recording artistes, musicians, producers and the local music industry as a whole, he said, will benefit gradually with the migration to streaming services like Apple Music, but “it will take promotion and education of the masses to get more persons to download and subscribe”.

Martin Price, manager of the Afro-Caribbean operations at music distribution company ONErpm, said having access to Apple Music will potentially increase earnings because of what it offers.

He explained, “Jamaicans already have their preferred way to stream music, whether it be YouTube and Audiomack, to name two, but Apple Music has many benefits those other platforms do not and, eventually, I believe there will be a large per cent of the user base that will make the change.”

He remarked that music distribution will not particularly change.

“Music has been distributed to Apple Music for years, and will continue to do so; it just means more potential listeners now. I think anytime music becomes more readily available and accessible it benefits the artistes, musicians, producers and the lot, and I am happy the expansion finally happened,” Price said. “Apple Music is known to pay a higher rate than many other platforms for streaming and is one of the few platforms where you can actually buy the music (instead of only streaming); so this not only increases sales but the chances to chart, such as Billboard.”

TRUE POPULARITY

For Jamaica, Jones-Griffith expanded on the point that the true popularity of Jamaican music will be reflected on streaming services.

“Up to this very moment, our music is way more popular on YouTube than Apple Music or Spotify in comparison to other genres. Hopefully, parity can be reached now that Apple Music is available,” he noted.

With streams going increasing, it means the platform also makes more money, the artiste manager told The Gleaner. “It should help the streaming services take us a little more seriously; we all need to evangelise the greatness of streaming; collectively we need as many consumers as possible on Apple Music.”

Apple Music boasts that it is the most complete music experience, now available in 167 countries and regions and offering more than 60 million songs. With world-class music experts and tastemakers curating thousands of playlists and daily selections, and the renowned global radio station Beats 1, Apple Music is the best music service for Apple products and is also available on Android and other devices.

A release stated that new Apple Music subscribers in the 52 additional countries can enjoy a six-month free trial of the service, with locally curated playlists. In addition, users have access to world-class music experts, tastemakers, and artiste-led programmes from globally celebrated creators, including Virgil Abloh, Billie Eilish, Elton John, Pharrell, and more.

Apple revolutionised personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms – iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS – provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud.