Apple Music is being backed with a ‘multi-million pound advertising campaign’ by UK mobile operator EE, as the two brands agree a landmark bundle deal.
New or upgrading EE customers will be offered six months of the Spotify rival free on iOS or Android devices from September 1.
The advertising campaign (pictured) features Kevin Bacon and Britney Spears. You can watch it below. It’s quite… something.
This marks the first time that a UK operator has offered Apple Music to its customer base, and acts a direct rival to Spotify’s tie-up with the UK’s biggest operator, Vodafone.
That deal, signed in 2014, offers contracted Vodafone Red customers up to 24 months of access to Spotify Premium – so long as they opt for a more expensive 4G package.
Marc Allera, CEO, EE, said: “We’re delighted to be the first UK operator to offer Apple Music, with its incredible catalogue of songs, playlists, and Beats 1 radio.
“As the UK’s biggest and fastest network, our focus is on bringing our customers the best 4G coverage in the most places. But we also look to bring our customers services from the best companies in the world.
“In Apple Music there is no doubt that we have found that, and together we’ll provide customers with an outstanding music experience on the biggest and fastest mobile network in the UK.”
You could argue that the EE deal isn’t quite what it’s cracked up to be: Apple Music offers new users a three-month free trial without a mobile bundle, so the EE deal only really appears to add a further three months onto this offer.
EE offers customers 4G coverage in more than two-thirds of the geography of the UK – more, it says, than any other network.
The company has committed to expanding 4G coverage to reach 95% of the UK landmass by 2020.Music Business Worldwide
