If you’ve been mourning the loss of MTV’s near-constant influx of music videos, you’re in luck: Apple Music now puts music videos front and center.
The focus on music videos, which can now be found in the opening “Browse” tab in the Apple Music app, coincides with the launch of Apple’s big iOS 11.3 update which went live on March 29.
Head to the section right now and you’ll find exclusive music videos from A Tribe Called Quest and Beck, as well as some all-time classics from bands like Def Leppard.
From there, you do a deeper dive into a specific genre of music, or head further down the rabbit hole with Apple’s highlighted artist (which, currently, is Taylor Swift).
Just be sure to have your credit card handy before you dive in - to watch any of the new music videos, you need to be an Apple Music subscriber. (Membership for Apple Music will run you $9.99 / £9.99 / AU$11.99 per month.)
Video killed the Beats 1 Radio star
Video is the obvious next step in the evolution of Apple’s music streaming service. It could potentially be a good segue to Apple’s slate of original programming we’ve heard so much about, which could be coming out as soon as this time next year.
The only problem for avid music video fans is the subscription requirement.
Locking the videos behind Apple Music's subscription wall is a distinctly different tactic we’ve seen from the likes of VEVO, a video streaming service who’s long offered free music videos from Universal, Sony and Warner for free on its website and mobile apps with advertisements.
If Apple hopes to woo any of Spotify’s 157 million active users or pull in some of VEVO's 25 million millennials, it should reconsider its stance of locking anything and everything behind the gates of its walled garden.
