The next time you walk into your favorite store and hear a faint pop song just loud enough to stick in your head all day, it might be Apple Music to blame. A new program called Apple Music for Business aims to deliver “exciting new playlists in every genre, and for any mood or moment” to retail stores all over the world. Or to put it another way, all the Panic! At the Disco and the Jonas Brothers your ears can handle.
Apple is partnering with the PlayNetwork for its new venture to build playlists of current, non-offensive tracks “to help you develop a solid music strategy and build a custom sound for your brand.” Apple promises the service will “freshen up your sound and keep your brand current in the minds of customers with frequently updated playlists.”
Most importantly, Apple Music for Business handles the licensing for the playing the music in stores and works through either a proprietary iOS app or PlayNetwork’s CURIOPlayer Z8. With some 50 million songs to choose from, retailers won’t have a problem crafting their perfect playlist, whether they’re looking for pop music or pop muzak.
Since the service is integrated with Apple Music, business will be able to let customers interact with the music playing via QR codes that let subscribers hook into playlists and stream songs right on their iPhones. And Apple also says partners will “receive an Apple Music marketing toolkit containing creative assets, digital tools, and brand guidance to help you clearly communicate what music is playing and where to find it.”
This isn’t the first time Apple has infiltrated retail stores with music. Way back in 2007, Apple teamed up with Stabucks to offer free weekly songs that patrons could download via iTunes. Of course, that was before the streaming revolution, so now Apple doesn’t need to give away free tracks to reach customers. With Apple Music for Business, if a customer signs up for an Apple Music subscription via one of the store’s codes, the partner will receive “a referral fee with no cap on earnings.”
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.