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Is iRadio going to be a free service for iOS and Mac users?
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It won't be free. Competitors can't offer it for free at the moment and let's be honest here... we're talking about Apple.
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No, iTunes Match is more like this:
- Download music by yourself (either buy or illegally)
- Put music in iTunes
- Sync with "iTunes in the Cloud"
- Your music list is now 'stored' in the cloud
- The music you have synced can now be accessed and downloaded on any iDevice
I expect this "iRadio" to be more similar to Spotify which basically does this:
- Look for the song you want and click play (song is streamed)
- Optionally: store songs on your device, so you can always access them even without internet connection
You don't have to pay for Pandora which is seems to be a clone of. The whole point for Apple is to drive sales to the individual songs so there will obviously be a free component. My guess is they will combine it with iTunes match for a ad-free experience as well.
Obviously? Based on Apple's tremendous track record for offering free services? You used to have to pay a hundred bucks a year for Apple's email service, which was free from virtually every other provider for years beforehand.
I'm not saying it's impossible that there will be a free component to it, but I would hardly assume it.
I don't think Apple could sell this service to the music studios if they didn't offer a way to purchase songs. But if you limited it to paying customers the ability of Apple to sell music for this service becomes severely limited.
Unless you are saying they will be offering a subscription service ala Spotify that gives you access to the entire iTunes library. However, no reports we have seen are saying Apple is doing this.
I don't know, I could be wrong, but I was suspecting a Spotify-like service. If it is indeed more like Pandora then you're probably right, it'll be free and possibly ad-based.
Spotify also offers a free radio service like Pandora. I hope Apple offers 2 tiers like Spotify does - free radio with ads, or a paid unlimited service that is merged with iTunes Match and has no ads.
Hahahahahahhahaahaha....no. Well, let me take that back, there will likely be a "free" or "freemium" version with limits and a paid version, I won't be using it so I haven't been paying attention, but that would make the most sense.
Errr... there are plenty of free options.
iheartradio streams actual radio stations (I believe limited to clear channel only)
Pandora gives you random mixes (I am sure we are all aware of this)
Nokia Music (on WP devices) is basically the paid verison of Pandora, but free (in that it has no adds and allows unlimited streaming)
There are probably more that I am missing. Unless this iRadio does more than the things I listed (it may, I just haven;t heard any official information at all), plenty of competitors are offering a free product.
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The iRadio seems to be more of an on-demand music streaming service, rather than a on-demand random radio streaming service. Huge difference.
Based on what? Where is this coming from? Not saying you are wrong, but I have read nothing of the sort (but would love to know more).
I have to agree that there would be options to build your own playlists/select songs as well as a random stream based on user preferences. To compete with other services, Apple needs both pieces.
I also see having free and paid options as being very likely. Again this would be to compete with exiting services. Without the free part, Apple won't draw as many people as it would like away from the other services that do have a free option.. And with the paid part, Apple could offer more features.