Apple expanded the global reach of its digital services today. As part of that, the company is making Apple Music free in 52 countries that are getting it for the first time, mostly in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean.
In addition the App Store, which Apple says gets over 500 million visitors a week, will be expanding to 20 new countries.
Screenshot of Apple's subscription game service, Apple Arcade.
“New Apple Music subscribers in the 52 additional countries can enjoy a six-month free trial of the service, with locally curated playlists including Africa Now, Afrobeats Hits, Ghana Bounce, and more,” Apple said in a press release. “In addition, users have access to world-class music experts, tastemakers, and artist-led programs from globally celebrated creators including Virgil Abloh, Billie Eilish, Elton John, Pharrell, and more.”
Now Apple Music will now offer “over 60 million songs” in 167 countries worldwide, Apple says.
That compares to 63 countries that Google Music currently supports and 80 countries that Spotify supports. The biggest challenge in getting your music-streaming app ready to go in new geographies is, of course, getting licenses from the rights owners, which can take a long time.
By contrast the France-based music streaming service Deezer is available in 187 countries.
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Apple Music is newly available in:
- Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Chad, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Tunisia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda, Zambia.
- Asia-Pacific: Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar.
- Europe: Croatia, Iceland, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia.
- Latin America and the Caribbean: the Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Turks and Caicos, Uruguay.
- Middle East: Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen.
- Oceania: Tonga, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Services are strategically important to Apple. The company no longer reports how many iPhone units it sells, for instance, as it instead focuses on increasing adoption of Apple services such the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and iCloud.
The App Store monetizes via app purchases, in-app purchases, and app subscriptions, which Apple generally — but not always — gets a 30% cut of. Apple Music monetizes via a music subscription, similar to Arcade and iCloud. Apple Podcasts is currently not monetized, but you could imagine an Apple ad network equivalent to Apple Search Ads — ads on the App Store — for podcast marketing and advertising in podcasts.
Apple Arcade, Apple Podcasts and iCloud also expanded to 20 new countries along with the App Store.
