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   Like iTunes Radio? Prepare to Pay or Switch

   Josh Centers

   Apple has been sending email messages to its customers, informing them
   that as of 29 January 2015, the company will be discontinuing its free,
   ad-supported iTunes Radio service. If you'd like to continue listening
   to your stations, you'll have to pony up for an Apple Music membership,
   which starts at $9.99 per month. The sole exception is the Beats 1
   radio station, which will remain free for all.

   Why the change? The obvious reason is that Apple is getting out of the
   ad business ' the company announced just a few days ago that it's
   [1]shutting down the iAd App Network on 30 June 2016. Another reason
   would be to boost subscriptions to its Apple Music service, which has
   only about [2]half the paid subscribers as Spotify. Finally, iTunes
   Radio was available only in the United States and Australia, while
   [3]Apple Music Radio is offered around the world.

   If you don't want to pay for an Apple Music subscription (and we don't
   blame you), there are plenty of alternatives. The most obvious is the
   original algorithmic radio service: [4]Pandora, which offers both
   ad-supported and paid tiers. Another good alternative is [5]Songza,
   which specializes in radio stations tailored to your daily activities,
   like waking up, showering, and exercising. Finally, the free tier of
   [6]Spotify gives you unrestricted, ad-supported access to its entire
   catalog on the desktop, and the mobile version lets you play whatever
   you like, but only in shuffle mode.

References

   1. https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=01152016a
   2. http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/10/10745630/apple-music-total-paid-subscribers-vs-spotify
   3. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204956
   4. http://www.pandora.com/
   5. http://songza.com/
   6. https://www.spotify.com/

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