Apple Music lands exclusive Britney Spears deal

Apple Music has landed another exclusive deal, this time with Britney Spears’ Glory album. It is set for release on August 26 and is, according to a tweet from the singer, the "beginning of a new era."

Glory is Spears’ first album since 2013’s Britney Jean, which received scathing reviews. She’s been doing a residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Details from Spears on the album were thin on the ground. It is presumed the album will include recent single Make Me (with rapper G-Eazy), which debuted at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Those who prefer to own the album could pre-order it from this week, and get a download from her new single Private Show which is also the name of her new perfume fragrance.

It is not known if it will remain an Apple Music exclusive, or if it will expand to other streaming services. But it is certainly another coup for Apple, which in its first 12 months struck similar deals with Drake, Taylor Swift, Chance the Rapper, Drake, Eminem, Future, Pharrell, Katy Perry, The 1975 and, most recently, Frank Ocean for two weeks.

In other Apple Music news, it has released an app for Android users to compete with other streaming services. It has been on beta mode since last November. Apple has added select Android-only features. These include a home screen widget for playback purposes and offline music downloading to an inserted SD card.

Apple Music has also entered Israel, with subscriptions almost half what it costs Australian and American subscribers.