We’ll avoid calling it Apple Muzak, for fear of trademark lawyers getting in touch. But Apple has officially launched the B2B version of Apple Music, called Apple Music for Business, as a partnership with brand-engagement firm PlayNetwork. It’s aimed at retailers, restaurants and other businesses who want to play licensed music.
The service will see PlayNetwork’s music supervisors choosing tracks from Apple Music’s existing curated playlists to match businesses’ identities, as well as their country and region. Everything is fully licensed for business use, with the music delivered via a proprietary iOS app and CurioPlayer Z8 hardware. Clients will also be able to “extend your customers’ in-venue music experience and take it with them as they listen to playlists and discover more great music” when they leave the venue. Harrods and Levi Strauss are reportedly among its first customers.
Apple Music for Business will compete directly with Soundtrack Your Brand, which launched out of Sweden in 2014; expanded to the US in 2016; and has raised more than $39m of funding. The Apple-branded rival is no surprise: in December 2018, news sites spotted that Apple had filed trademark applications for ‘Apple Music for Business’, which we reported on at the time.
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