Apple confirms iTunes Radio music streaming service will launch this autumn

Listeners will be offered personalised radio stations tailored to their own taste according to their iTunes library

iTunes Radio, Apple’s long-awaited music streaming service, has been fully confirmed by the technology giant.

The free internet radio service will feature over 200 stations with a large catalogue of music after Apple inked deals with all the major record labels. A free version of iTunes Radio with adverts will launch in the autumn, while iTunes Match users will get iTunes Radio ad-free.

iTunes Radio users will be offered the use of personalised radio stations tailored to their own taste as dictated by the music they already listen to on iTunes. Additional stations will be based on genre with others curated by Apple.

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“iTunes Radio is an incredible way to listen to personalised radio stations which have been created just for you,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “It’s the music you love most and the music you’re going to love, and you can easily buy it from the iTunes Store with just one click.”

iTunes Radio will come as standard inside the new iOS 7 Music app, also announced by Apple at the WWDC keynote in San Francisco yesterday (June 10). iTunes Radio will also be available to users of iTunes on Mac and PC and the Apple TV. It was also confirmed that users of the service on iPhone will be able to use iTunes Radio in conjunction with Siri.

Rivals Nokia have already criticised iTunes Radio, accusing Apple of “playing catch-up” in comparison to its own Nokia Music service. “We launched our streaming radio service in 2011. It’s interesting to see Apple react now and it seems they continue to play catch-up,” said Nokia Entertainment CEO Jyrki Rosenberg in a statement released following the WWDC keynote speech. “Nokia Music will stay true to our mobile-first approach and continue to deliver an extremely simple, personalised and contextual way to discover and enjoy music on the go.”

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