Apple has made its biggest push into digital music since it began selling downloads on iTunes 12 years ago, launching a new streaming service that will compete with Spotify and new services from Google and Jay Z, the hip-hop star.
The new service — dubbed Apple Music — will be available on hundreds of millions of connected Apple devices. It is the first significant music product launched by Apple since it paid $3bn to buy Beats Electronics from Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine last year.
Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, told the audience at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco on Monday that the new service represented the “next chapter” of music.