Big Apple: Festival Renamed

In a handy illustration of the decline of paid downloads and the rise of streaming services, Apple’s iTunes Festival has been inevitably rebranded the ‘Apple Music Festival’. The series of events will again take place at The Roundhouse in London this September.

This year will focus on emerging acts including the soon to be departed One Direction, Pharrell Williams, Disclosure and Florence + The Machine among the headline acts.

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue put down the humble pie in exchange for a big slice of apple, saying: “The Apple Music Festival is a greatest hits set of ten unbelievable nights featuring some of the best performers on the planet appearing live and interacting directly with their fans on Connect and Beats 1”.

UK residents can apply to win tickets on Apple Music, as well as through media partners including the Yplan events app.

As Cue alluded to above, performances will be available for download for free in addition to being viewed live and on-demand on Apple Music. It will also be covered on Beats 1 radio station, alongside backstage news and footage straight from the artists on Apple Music Connect. Say what you like about Apple, they don’t do soft launches.

The name change is quite simply “in honour of the launch of Apple Music”, with ten shows taking place from September 19th-28th. Find out more here.