While Apple Music has plunged its toes into year-end reviews and the similar, it is honest to say playlists haven’t been as a lot of a spotlight for the platform as say Spotify and YouTube Music. You won’t, for example, find an algorithmically-generated soundtrack tailored to your pet’s tastes on Apple Music. But if you’re a basketball fan, there is a good chance you will hear the company’s latest effort soon enough.
As a part of a new agreement with the NBA and a startup known as UnitedMasters, Apple is curating a weekly playlist known as the BASE: LINE. It can feature songs from up-and-coming independent hip-hop artists picked by Apple Music director Ebro Darden. The NBA will soundtrack highlights its shares online with songs directly from the BASE: LINE.
This week, you will find music from rappers like KOTA, the Friend, and Princess Nokia, to call a few. Plenty of songs come from artists who use the UnitedMasters app to share their music. The startup was organized in 2017 by former Interscope Records president Steve Stoute. The app permits musicians to add their songs to platforms like Apple Music and Spotify without the help of a traditional file label.
Whether BASE: LINE represents a brand new strategy for Apple or a mere one-off is hard to say at the moment. Nevertheless, it appears clear playlists might be one of the methods music streaming services proceed to differentiate themselves from moving forward.