Apple Music Arrives In Dancehall’s Capital, Jamaica
On April 21, 2020, Apple announced that it would be expanding its popular Apple Music service to more countries worldwide. Home to over 60 million songs and 60 million paying subscribers, Apple Music is one of the largest and most popular music streaming services in the world.
Apple Music is now available in 52 additional countries. This includes dancehall’s capital Jamaica and eight other Latin America and Caribbean countries, namely The Bahamas, Guyana, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Turks and Caicos, and Uruguay.
The service comes with curated playlists including Dancehall Bangers, Afrobeats Hits and more.
Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and International Content said “We’re delighted to bring many of Apple’s most beloved Services to users in more countries than ever before. We hope our customers can discover their new favorite apps, games, music, and podcasts as we continue to celebrate the world’s best creators, artists, and developers.”
What does this mean for dancehall music?
The subscribers to Apple Music in these 52 additional countries will receive 6 months free trial of the streaming service. This will encourage persons to take advantage of the service. What’s more impressive is that Apple Music pays royalties to the owners of the music even when they are streamed during the free trial period.
This will open doors for Dancehall artistes to benefit a lot more from the platform. Now their local audiences can sign up and listen to tracks from their favorite deejays. With added interest, the Apple’s algorithms may recommend dancehall music, more frequently, even to subscribers in external territories.
The move will also help to curb the culture of pirating music that has been long plaguing the Jamaican and Caribbean music industry. Many persons who admit to pirating music in Jamaica complain that they do not have easy access or know how to legally access music. The Apple music platform provides a simple way to access legal music that compensates the owners.
The onus is now on the artistes, producers, managers, and songwriters to get their music in the proper channels so that they can benefit from this wonderful opportunity.