Apple announced yesterday that it’s long-awaited iTunes Radio will finally launch this month on Wednesday, September 18th, the same day it will introduce its new operating system, iOS 7. iTunes Radio promises to be a strong competitor to other streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify, which also offer ad-supported services that cater to a user’s specific tastes. At first, the service will only be available in the United States but Apple expects to introduce it internationally soon.
iTunes Radio will have over 200 stations with songs from major record labels. Apple has signed deals with all of these labels to stream their music. In addition to the preset stations, users will be able to generate personalized radio stations based on a specific artist or song in their library.
The service is free but will include advertisements. Every 15 minutes, users will listen to an audio ad and every hour, they will see a video advertisement. According to Billboad, iTunes Radio is being sponsored by companies like Proctor & Gamble, McDonalds, and Pepsi.
Music companies are looking forward to the launch because they will have the opportunity to collect more royalties than they have with other services. iTunes Radio will make it easy for users to purchase songs they like, a huge selling point for artists and labels. In addition, Apple will pay labels 0.13 cents for every song streamed compared to only 0.12 cents on Pandora. Apple will also give music companies a portion of its revenue from advertising.