Apple Music Connect Relaunches – With a Difference

Apple has relaunched Apple Music Connect, the artist-to-fan social media platform it debuted in 2015 but shuttered in 2018. This latest iteration is aimed squarely at record labels and distributors.

Backstory:

• When it launched in 2015, Apple Music Connect allowed artists to directly connect with their fans by sharing lyrics, posting exclusives and releasing music directly to their followers.

• In some ways it was ahead of its time, preceding the current emphasis on building superfans.

• Apple closed it in 2018 due to poor pick-up and low engagement.

Back to life:

• The new iteration of Apple Music Connect is part of the Apple Music Partner Program, available only to those working in the music industry.

• It’s being badged as a one-stop “resource for labels and distributors.”

• Through it they can create “stunning assets” for promotional content around new releases.

• They can also pitch priority releases to Apple Music editors so they “know where it might fit across playlists, radio, genre pages, and category pages.”

• The “Media Requests” function promises a “seamless new way” for the Apple Music team to request publicity images for playlists, features and more.

• There are also tools for creating affiliate links, badges, embedded players, QR codes, and templates for social assets promoting a song’s placement in an Apple Music playlist.