A year after its launch, Apple Music might finally be ready to admit it needs work. Bloomberg reports that Apple is set to overhaul its streaming service with some tweaks and upgrades that make it more user-friendly. Since the service went live last June, many have criticized it for being difficult to navigate in comparison to iTunes and other streaming platforms like Spotify. It’s reportedly working to fix that by getting a major redesign spearheaded by Trent Reznor (who originally helped launch Beats 1 Radio), content head Robert Kondr, Jimmy Iovine, and more.
As streaming sales continue to outearn downloads, Apple will look to better integrate Apple Music and iTunes, so it’s easier to purchase the music you’re streaming, in the same way Tidal does. Along with that overhaul, Apple Music is also planning to streamline its interface so you no longer have to click around to find songs and albums or attempt to figure out the purpose of the Connect tab. (Still a mystery.) Beats 1 may also get sister stations, reports Billboard. The overhaul is set to be unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
But according to Bloomberg, there’s some internal tension at play because Apple Music and iTunes still operate as separate entities under the Apple umbrella. The magazine also says that the acquisition of Beats Music two years ago caused a “culture clash” at Apple that led to several managers leaving. It claims that Iovine — credited with getting Taylor Swift on board and scoring Drake, but losing out on Kanye’s The Life of Pablo — has created some behind-the-scenes drama.
Despite the growing pains, Apple Music has reached 13 million subscribers and will reportedly boast the biggest album of the year so far with Drake’s Views (an Apple exclusive), which could sell 1 million in a week. By Drake’s math, it sold more than 620,000 albums in one night.
