Tidal

Apple on March 9 said it will start streaming classical music from a stand-alone app on March 28 as it seeks to distinguish itself from rivals Spotify and specialist platforms.

The iPhone giant said Apple Music Classical will offer "the world's largest classical music catalog," with exclusive albums and an advanced search functionality not seen on other apps.

Rap mogul Jay Z will release his latest album at the end of this month, the Tidal music streaming service said on June 19, confirming weeks of rumors that the artist was preparing a new project.

Streaming has become for the first time the top money-maker for the US recorded music business, but it has struggled to offset falling CD sales and downloads, industry data showed on March 22.

Seventeen of the largely deemed most influential artists and entertainers recently started changing their social media profile pictures to light-blue blank spaces.