Roku today announced that the Apple Music service is now available on its Roku players and Roku TVs. That brings more than 90 million songs and 30,000 playlists to the No. 1 streaming platform in the United States.
And, well, that’s it. If you’re already an Apple Music subscriber, you’ve good to go. Just sign in with your existing Apple ID. If you’re new to Apple Music, an individual plan costs $10 a month, and family plans run $15 a month. (There also is a Student plan for $5 a month.) And signing up via the Roku Channel Store gets you the same one-month free trial that you’d get if you signed up via Apple.
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Just like with Apple Music on the Apple TV platform, Roku users also will get access to music videos in 4K resolution, and time-synced lyrics, so you can know exactly what your favorite mumble-mouthed frontperson is singing. Subscribers also will have access to Apple Music original shows, concerts, and other exclusive events, as well as personalized recommendations.
Not available, however, is the Spatial Audio feature that turns Dolby Atmos into a sort of 3D soundscape.
The addition of Apple Music on Roku puts the music service up against the likes of Spotify, which just announced 422 million monthly active users, and 182 million monthly active users of its premium paid service. While Apple doesn’t release specific subscription numbers for Apple Music, its global market share is believed to be about half that of Spotify.
Roku says the Apple Music channel (which is what it calls its apps) should be available later in the day on May 2.
