BBC Music playlist app taps into Spotify, YouTube

New music discovery service will feature exclusive content, Auntie promises.

Cassandra Khaw – Feb 24, 2016 1:33 pm | 2

The BBC has been diversifying its output recently, most notably with its coverage of e-sports and gaming—now it has launched a new standalone Music app.

The app, which features music from BBC TV, radio, and online, is available to UK folk only on Android and iOS devices.

According to the public broadcaster, BBC Music will feature “amazing and exclusive music content,” from Live Lounge sessions to interviews to “epic sets.” Users will apparently also be able to customise the app, so that it provides content relevant to their particular interests.

As expected, the BBC Music app will also extrapolate indicated preferences, and offer suggestions that its algorithms have deemed suitable for a user’s listening pleasure. All of which sounds a lot like Apple Music. The BBC said:

This app builds on BBC Playlister, which has now evolved with its core functions integrated into BBC Music across all platforms. Over time, the app will evolve and add new features based around user feedback—keeping music fans at the heart of what the app offers.

Some of the other features include the ability to access and follow curated playlists, find any track that BBC Radio played in the last seven days, and export music to streaming partners Spotify, Deezer, and YouTube, but—significantly—not Apple.

“The BBC Music app lets you get straight to the music you love, from In Concert and Live Lounge sessions to Jools Holland, with the tap of a button,” said director of BBC Music, Bob Shennan. “This is just the start for us, and we want to hear from users over time to make the BBC Music app the best that it can be, so they can enjoy music from across the BBC—whenever and wherever they are.”

The launch of the app is the latest strategic push for BBC Music, which already has a website, and can be found on the BBC’s popular iPlayer streaming service. However, despite the arrival of this standalone app, a 30-day music discovery product with playable playlists—which was proposed by the BBC in September last year—remains in development.