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Sonos wireless speaker systems can now stream Apple Music any time following a two-month beta program that previewed the streaming music service for some Sonos owners.
The new feature for Sonos users around the world allows users to now stream the entire Apple Music catalog, the speaker company announced on Feb. 9.
Apple Music on Sonos was tested by hundreds of thousands of listeners through the beta program that began in mid-December, the company said. To activate the latest features, Sonos users can select “Add Music Services” from a Sonos controller app and then scroll down to the Apple Music icon to log in.
“The feedback from Apple Music members on Sonos during the beta period has been great,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said in a statement. “Sonos plus Apple Music provides an amazing listening experience at home—and we’re excited to offer it to all Sonos customers starting [Feb. 10].”
A new Sonos station on Apple Music, which is curated by artists in collaboration with Sonos, has also been launched as part of the Sonos Apple Music partnership.
Apple Music launched June 30 with free 90-day trials and signed up some 11 million users in its first five weeks, according to an earlier eWEEK story. Apple Music costs $14.99 a month for a family plan that lets up to six household members use an account, or $9.99 for a single monthly membership for one person.
With Apple Music, Apple is taking on a wide range of established rivals in the streaming music business, including Pandora, Spotify and Rhapsody.
Apple Music puts the entire Apple Music catalog of some 30 million songs at the fingertips of subscribers. A user’s existing music tracks, whether purchased from the iTunes Store or ripped from CDs, live in one place on their devices alongside the Apple Music catalog. With an Apple Music membership, a user’s entire library lives in Apple’s iCloud. The service automatically compares every track in a user’s music collection to Apple’s music library and can play it from the iCloud if Apple has a copy. If the music is not in Apple’s catalog, it is uploaded from iTunes on a user’s Mac or PC so it won’t take up space on a user’s devices.
The service also incorporates an intelligent search engine to help users find the music they are seeking. It remembers whether users are looking in their local music library or in the Apple Music library, so they get results from the place they expect. Users can also browse music they’ve previously looked for, and they can see what searches are trending.
Apple Music members can add tracks, albums or videos from the Apple Music library once they find it in search. Members can then also create personalized playlists from music they’ve added to their collections. Plus, music can be saved for offline listening on the road.
In addition, Apple Music allows users to integrate their existing iTunes collections, learn about new artists and music from expert curators, and select their favorite and least-favorite types of music so Apple Music can share suggestions based on user preferences.
Also featured in Apple Music are curated playlists from experts around the world as well as Beats 1, a live online radio streaming service that includes on-air personalities spinning songs and exploring new music with listeners.
Subscribers can also take in a Connect feature in Apple Music, which lets artists and fans communicate with one another directly for a more intimate look at the music and bands that fans love. Through Connect, artists can share on-the-road experiences, lyrics, backstage photos and videos, or release their latest songs directly to fans from an iPhone, while fans can comment or interact with artists through social media platforms.