Apple Music Can Now Be Heard in 52 More Countries

Apple gladly announced on April 21 that Apple Music will now be available for streaming in more countries as 52 new countries have been added to the list, making Apple Music's availability expanded to a total of 167. Topping the list of most number of territories combined is located in Africa. There will be 25 more countries on the continent that will have live access to the five-year-old streaming service.

A significant expansion of other Apple services has also taken effect. An additional 20 countries can now access connection to the App Store, iCloud, Apple's Podcasts, and the Apple Arcade. The total number of countries for the first three services have now reached 175 countries and regions. The move is taken to be a push to broaden service revenue means for Apple.

Listed below is the list of the new countries that can now enjoy streaming Apple Music.

African continent:

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Cameroon

Chad

Côte d'Ivoire

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Gabon

Liberia

Libya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Tanzania

Tunisia

Zambia

Asia-Pacific Region:

Bhutan

Maldives

Myanmar

Europe:

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

Georgia

Iceland

Kosovo

Montenegro

North Macedonia

Serbia

Latin America and the Caribbean:

The Bahamas

Guyana

Jamaica

Montserrat

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Suriname

Turks and Caicos

Uruguay

Middle East Region:

Iraq

Kuwait

Qatar

Yemen

Oceania Region:

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Vanuatu

As a way to promote the new streaming service, Apple Music is offering a six-month free trial period for the 52 newly added countries which were granted access. Included in the offer are locally-curated playlists that will cater to local music scenes and genres. Cited examples from an official statement by Apple Music are Africa Now, Ghana Bounce, and Afrobeats Hits. Another add-on feature is artist-initiated programs and radio stations on Beats 1. Further to this, seven Middle Eastern countries with available Apple Music can start hearing broadcast from Beats 1. These are Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The offer for a six-month trial option is meant to entice locals to avail Apple Music since many of the newly-added territories are not reliable in terms of streaming services. Subscription of music, in particular, digital music, is not widely accepted economically. The pricing option set by Apple was not yet available as of now once the free trial period is over.

Oliver Schusser, the VP for Apple Music and International Content, issued a statement on Tuesday that announced Apple's expansion of beloved services in more countries. He said that Apple hopes that new customers can "discover their new favorite apps, games, music, and podcasts." He added that it is the company's way to "celebrate the world's best creators, artists, and developers."

Apple Music claims it is the "most complete music experience" carrying more than 60 million songs. It boasts of world-class music experts curating thousands of playlists and daily selections. Last year, Apple Music offered a three-month free subscription to listeners all over the world who have access to the streaming service.

The expansion move of Apple pushes a more substantial global presence in its bid to outdo Spotify, the current market leader in streaming digital music. Spotify has 124 million premium subscribers as of the last quarter of 2019 but can be streamed in a lesser number of countries.