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Beats Music drops API, hopes other apps will soon bundle in compatibility

beats releases api online
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The streaming service Beats Music, still in its infancy at a mere month-and-a-half old, today unveiled its API (application programming interface), effectively opening the door to app designers looking to bake in connectivity to the $120-a-year subscription player. An API is a tool that programmers can use to create compatibility between two different programs or types of software — a blueprint, of sorts.

Within Beats Music’s API, programmers will find the company’s catalog of more than 20 million tracks, in addition to music metadata, personal recommendations, curated content and album/artist art.

This isn’t the first instance of an online music-streaming service releasing its API to the public — Spotify and Rdio came before, with the same hopes of developers spreading app compatibility like pollen in the wind. 

Released in mid-January, Beats Music hasn’t been around very long, but because it came into town on the same hype-horse that Beats originally rode onto the scene with, the service already sits atop a tall wave of press and hubbub. As a contender of Spotify, an API release — even this early — couldn’t hurt.

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Alex Tretbar
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Alex Tretbar, audio/video intern, is a writer, editor, musician, gamer and sci-fi nerd raised on EverQuest and Magic: The…
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