by Jason Snell
Welcome to streaming music, Apple. Seriously.
Today I’m back in iMore’s The Network column, writing about Apple’s 14-year history with digital music and how it informs the June 30 launch of Apple Music:
The other week I was rummaging through my old audio CD library.
I pulled all the discs I bought from the ’80s through the mid-2000s out of their jewelboxes and filed them in big envelopes after I ripped most of them into iTunes years ago—and found a few discs that I don’t remember buying. Classic Yo-Yo by Yo-Yo Ma. A Bob Dylan live album. A Johnny Cash live album. Where did they come from?
Then I remembered. Oh, yeah—Steve Jobs bought those for me.
This is a momentous month for Apple’s future as a part of the music world. On June 30 we’ll get our first glimpse at Apple Music, Apple’s own music subscription service. But Apple’s history with music goes back 14 years, and what a long, strange trip it’s been.