Skip to main content

Streaming of Drake’s new ‘Views’ album exclusive to Apple Music, available for download on iTunes

Streaming of Drake’s latest album Views has hit Apple Music, and will be exclusive to the streaming service for one week, the rapper announced on Beats 1. This confirmed an earlier Buzzfeed report.

Drake told Zane Lowe that the album is a very personal one, based very much on his own feelings about himself and his home city of Toronto.

I’m a very honest person. I can’t write fiction.

The short one-week exclusivity period was no doubt influenced by the fact that Drake was the most-streamed artist on Spotify last year, and perhaps also wanting to avoid emulating some high-profile U-turns by artists who had initially promised full exclusivity elsewhere …

Kayne West’s The Life of Pablo was supposedly exclusive to Tidal, and would ‘never never be on Apple,’ but the artist seemingly changed his mind a month later – a decision that led to a class-action suitCNET notes similar U-turns by Rihanna and Beyonce.

Claims of exclusivity to Apple Music have, however, so far proven more reliable, with Taylor Swift and Adele’s latest album not available to stream elsewhere.

Drake posted the tracklist for the long-awaited 20-track album to Instagram yesterday. It’s described on iTunes as ‘a tour through the city that made him’.

With immaculate vocal turns and sleek production, Views is Drake’s tour through the city that made him. A meticulous contrast to the off-the-cuff brilliance of recent mixtapes, he taunts adversaries with speaker-rattling anthems (“Hype,” “Still Here”), revisits his humble beginnings (“Weston Road Flows”), and rekindles the seductive chemistry with Rihanna (“Too Good”). Those extremes—the Caribbean warmth of “One Dance” and the icy lament of “Fire & Desire,” the unflinching vulnerability and unapologetic self-assurance—make Views a riveting victory lap from Toronto’s game-changing MC.

Views costs $13.99 on iTunes. Drake’s summer tour is also being presented by Apple Music.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. ilyasyurdaon - 8 years ago

    Guys, please check the last 10 or 50 articles in this website and tell me how many of them are not ADVERTISING (like this one), not an opinion article of some random writer, not a “roundup” to collect the news of the last 1,5 hours, not a “roundup” to collect the news of the last week, not a “roundup” to collect the news of the last ten years?

    Change your name to 9TO5BS, makes more sense!

    • applefan242 - 8 years ago

      Someone seems to have missed a few anger management sessions….

      • ilyasyurdaon - 8 years ago

        It’s really not anger. They used to publish less posts in past, but each one did really matter and create a wow affect, regardless of how accurate they are, which it doesnt have to be. Now since everything is all about web ads, they persistently keep doing that. And everyone, I’m guessing including you, has become so used to be ok with having less and being fine with that.

      • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

        No, he’s right. This isn’t a real article about Apple, it’s an advertisement for Drake. Who, by the way, can’t sing, or play a musical instrument and puts out really low grade crap they call music.

    • Wow, yeah, you are pretty angry. I found this to be very relevant and on topic with information about Apple. I found it informative that this artist (who I don’t care about) is engaging with Apple Music, even doing an exclusive. This is good news for Apple Music, in my opinion and keeps me in the loop.

      • ilyasyurdaon - 8 years ago

        Well, I agree on that, I really do. But what I’m really really trying to say is far beyond one-post-issue. That’s all it’s about.
        And ok I’ll admit, I was fcking angry :)

    • flaviosuave - 8 years ago

      A large part of the competitive landscape is content, and this is very newsworthy given Drake’s high profile. Do I like his music? Don’t even listen to it, so I couldn’t tell you. But as Apple Music, content, and other related services become a larger part of Apple’s revenue stream, this type of thing becomes more important and newsworthy to those who follow the company.

      Is anything but a pure hardware leak or announcement “advertising” to you just because it describes content vs hardware?

      At the end of the day, you also have the option of starting your own blog and/or just skipping the articles you find so crazy offensive to your tender sensibilities.

  2. chrisl84 - 8 years ago

    14 to 23 year olds with Apple Music accounts should be pleased to hear this. Apple loves to get in to bed with people who appeal to demographics with no actual money.

    • applefan242 - 8 years ago

      Seeing as how Apple Music, in less than a year now, is at 13M subscribers and climbing, it’s probably best to defer to Apple’s judgment on this one. The more artists they can get under the exclusive banner, the better for drawing attention to the service as a whole.

      • chrisl84 - 8 years ago

        Seeing as how the people who listen to Drake have to ask their parents for permission to spend money, Apple would be better served marketing to customers with broad appeal and hits ages with disposable income. There are actually artists who appeal to 18-45 year olds…..but sure Apples doing so well lately, lets limit our brand to 14-23 year olds. Good logic.

      • applefan242 - 8 years ago

        You know what I truly fail to comprehend? People that make such general statements like “if you happen to find a particular artist’s music entertaining, your probably not a successful person; much less an adult.” Where’s the logic in that? Music has no inherent boundaries. Again I say, with a subscriber base at 13M and growing, let’s not shout gloom and doom just to satisfy our own personal belief systems. It’s just good business.

    • @dannypwins - 8 years ago

      Tell us why you’re really mad..

      • chrisl84 - 8 years ago

        In case I wasn’t clear because they pick the wrong people to get in bed with….but I am pretty sure I made my point the first time….tell us why you lack reading comprehension

      • flaviosuave - 8 years ago

        Because Drake is a rapper and therefore a little too “urban” for chrisl84…

    • flaviosuave - 8 years ago

      Drake had the 6th top selling album of 2015, so you’re probably right that his core audience is people who don’t have the money or inclination to buy albums.

      • chrisl84 - 8 years ago

        Ummmm, lets explain this to you, those WERE ALBUM SALES, so like I said his demo got mommy and daddy to buy the ALBUM, what mommy and daddy wont do, is sign their kids up for 100+ dollar a year streaming service for Drake. They will give them 13 bucks for the album and be done with it. So Apple forks over millions to drake for streaming exclusivity when his market audience don’t buy streaming services….mommy and daddy will buy them single albums once in a while.

      • chrisl84 - 8 years ago

        Stock price just keeps climbing too….oh wait, nvm

      • theronster - 8 years ago

        I’m 38. I listen to Drake and I don’t have to ask anyone to buy his records for me.

        White Irish Straight Male, gainfully employed in the tech industry, if that helps re-calibrate your obvious biases.

  3. tell us please about suicide in apple campus? Who was it?

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

      It was a software programmer. Not much more has been released about the story. They haven’t released the name.

    • theronster - 8 years ago

      Not news really. Just a sad thing that happened and that’s all you need to know.

  4. Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

    If only the great musicians of the world would get this kind of publicity. Why are there so many articles on guys like Drake? What’s the attraction? He can’t sing, he doesn’t know how to play a musical instrument? I don’t know how people like Drake can actually get a recording contract and how so many people buy into this. If he can’t sing, or play a musical instrument, how can anything he does be considered music, or even music of high quality? Oh well.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 8 years ago

      He’s not my taste either, but as the piece notes, ‘Drake was the most-streamed artist on Spotify last year,’ so it makes sense for Apple to strike this deal.

    • Jake Becker - 8 years ago

      We don’t want to open that up, not only could I go on for days but people will say we’re wrong by sticking their fingers into their ears and making raspberries and that’ll be the end of it. I’m glad Apple Music is successful though and now has 3 whole artists available on their service. Now if it was just a better software experience….

    • Tou Karl (@toukale) - 8 years ago

      While I understand your sentiment and somewhat agree with it, you are missing the point. Companies invests into entertainers that can influence large number of users. You may not like or see any singing talent in Drake, it still does not take away from the fact he is very influential on a big demographic of users. Those are the users who spends or get their parents to spend large chunk of dollars on things like $200 sneakers, headphones and the likes. That is a demographic every business wants, Apple included. Apple is in the business of making money and that demographic spends lot.

    • flaviosuave - 8 years ago

      “I am a cranky old man who can’t understand why the rest of the world won’t just share my exact taste for music!!!!”

      -Rich Davis, apparently.

    • theronster - 8 years ago

      You seem to think you know a lot about Drake.

      He can sing just fine – he actually is one of the few rappers that does sing quite a bit on his records, but you’ve obviously never listened to them or you’d know that. Check out ‘Just Hold On We’re Coming Home’ as a good example.

      He can rap. That’s as difficult a skill as playing an instrument. How do I know? I can play a few instruments well, but I can’t rap to save myself. Therefore it doesn’t take much logic to reason that it’s an acquired skill. So you don’t respect that skill? That doesn’t undermine it as marketable or valuable, thankfully.

      He’s a clever lyricist. People enjoy his records because he’s capable of very witty turns of phrase – essentially, at its core, rap is poetry, and the guys that excel at it are extremely adept poets. Brilliantly inventive use of metaphor and meter is the name of the game, and some phrases can be as dizzying or as impressive as any guitar solo, simply because the skills to do it are hard to acquire – they require just as much practice and a nice helping of raw talent as any instrument.

      But let’s be honest here, you didn’t really want a well reasoned argument in favour of this type of music, did you? I mean, there can’t be some other reason you don’t like rappers, is there?

  5. djngoma - 8 years ago

    Seems like region pricing but the album is selling for 9.99USD on the Malaysian store.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


Ben Lovejoy's favorite gear