苹果推出新的流媒体服务应对竞争

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.

苹果(Apple)推出了新的流服务，该服务将与Spotify的流服务、以及谷歌(Google)与嘻哈明星Jay-Z推出的新服务展开竞争。这是苹果自12年前开始在iTunes上出售下载音乐以来向数字音乐领域发起的最大规模冲锋。

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.

这一被称为苹果音乐(Apple Music)的新服务将向数以亿计的苹果联网设备提供。它是苹果自收购Beats Electronics以来推出的首个重要音乐产品。苹果去年斥资30亿美元从Dr. Dre和吉米•约维内(Jimmy Iovine)手中购得了Beats Electronics。

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.

周一在旧金山举行的苹果全球开发者大会(Worldwide Developer Conference)上，苹果首席执行官蒂姆•库克(Tim Cook)向听众表示，这种新服务代表着音乐领域的“新篇章”。

Apple Music includes Connect, which will allow musicians and record labels to share free content with music fans, and Beats 1, an online radio service broadcasting from Los Angeles, New York and London. “The truth is that internet radio isn’t radio. It’s just a playlist,” said Jimmy Iovine, the former Beats chief executive, who is leading Apple’s new music push. “We wanted to create a worldwide radio station.”

苹果音乐包含让音乐家和唱片公司能向粉丝分享免费内容的Connect，以及Beats 1，也就是一项播出地点分别位于洛杉矶、纽约和伦敦的在线广播服务。前Beats首席执行官、现苹果音乐业务负责人约维内表示：“事实上，互联网广播并不是广播。它只是一个播放列表。我们想创建一家覆盖全世界的电台。”

The new service will launch in 100 countries later this month for iOS devices, costing $9.99, with the first three months free. A family package will cost $14.99 for up to six people. “We want everyone to try it,” said Eddie Cue, Apple’s senior vice-president of Internet Software and Services.

这项新服务将于本月晚些时候在100个国家面向iOS设备推出，每月收费9.99美元，头三个月免费。家庭套餐价格为14.99美元，可供最多6人使用。苹果互联网软件与服务高级副总裁埃迪•库埃(Eddie Cue)说：“我们希望每个人都试一试。”