Roger Fingas
A new single from Pharrell Williams, "Freedom," will be an Apple Music exclusive and launch alongside the service on June 30, according to a Facebook update by the hip-hop and R&B singer.
The post didn't indicate how long the song might be an exclusive, or whether Williams' next album would also be limited to Apple. The single was originally heard during the WWDC 2015 keynote announcing Apple Music.
Prior to the keynote, rumors suggested that Williams might be one of several celebrity DJs featured in revamped iTunes radio content. Instead the company's radio efforts will center around Beats 1, a live station hosted by Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden, and Julie Adenuga.
Freedom. June 30th Apple Music
Posted by Pharrell Williams on Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Apple has increasingly relied on Williams as a marketing tool. He was one of several celebrities to receive an Apple Watch weeks before the product's April 24 launch, some other examples including Katy Perry, and Drake, the last of whom appeared on stage during the WWDC keynote.
Indeed the company has become increasingly focused on celebrity product placement. Some early Watch recipients, such as Beyonce and Karl Lagerfeld, each received Edition models with custom gold link bracelets unavailable to the public.
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Charles Martin
62 Comments
I'm getting old, don't have any idea who most of these "stars" are.
But...I thought Tidal was for the artists, and stuff!
So how much does Apple have to shell out for this exclusive? People hate exclusivity. I hope it doesn't happen very often. And I'm sure it won't as the DOJ and EU would be all over that in a heartbeat.
So how much does Apple have to shell out for this exclusive? People hate exclusivity. I hope it doesn't happen very often. And I'm sure it won't as the DOJ and EU would be all over that in a heartbeat.
The EU is on the verge of collapse, no one cares what they think. The DOJ's about to be too busy attacking every church and religious organization in America to worry about some music exclusivity.
The more pain dealt to Spotify, the better.
Well, well, so Apple has decided to compete head-to-head with the music publishing establishment. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.