The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference starts tomorrow, meaning months of playful speculation and semi-confirmations will finally come to a sweeping close. Easily the most discussed possibility surrounding tomorrow's kickoff is the impending launch of Apple's streaming service, a launch that can now graduate from rumored to confirmed. Speaking at the Midem conference in Cannes, Sony Music CEO Doug Morris told reporters that Apple will officially announce its streaming platform on Monday.
Morris's appearance at Midem saw the music industry titan discussing his legendary career, including his decades-long partnership with Jimmy Iovine — the Beats co-founder who is now running Apple's streaming service alongside Dr. Dre. Morris praised Apple's foray into the controversial streaming world, calling their Beats buyout a "brilliant" move.
Morris noted that purported market leaders like Spotify have "never really advertised" because they're simply not profitable, a facet of the streaming model Apple will reportedly not emulate in any way, shape, or form. "[Apple]'s got $178 billion dollars in the bank and they have 800 million credit cards in iTunes," Morris said. "My guess is that Apple will promote this like crazy and I think that will have a halo effect on the streaming business [industry]."
If you've been living under a Samsung-sized rock for the past few months, the rumors surrounding Apple's streaming service — often referred to as Apple Music — have been plentiful, with a few of them already officially addressed. As previously reported, Drake and Pharrell have been confirmed in unspecified positions within Apple's streaming framework — joining former BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe and Oscar-winner Trent Reznor. Last month, fresh rumors surrounding Kanye West's SWISH (the album formerly known as So Help Me God) pointed to a partnership involving an Apple investment in West's creative company DONDA and an Apple-exclusive status for the new album.
Stay tuned.
