What’s this? Another major tech company has found a way to capitalize on consumers’ fervor for the new “Star Wars” movie? Shocking! The latest to join the fray is Apple, which has today added a new “Star Wars”-themed radio station to its streaming music service, Apple Music.
The station, now appearing under Apple Music’s “Featured” section, includes selected tracks from the soundtracks of previous films, including the prequels, so that you can enjoy the perfect music to accompany you on your journey to the premiere.
Apple’s station has all the memorable tunes from the past movies, including the main title theme, the trash compactor scene’s score, and the “Emperor Arrives” music, for example, which are interrupted by various sound effects, like Darth Vader’s breathing or R2-D2’s beeps.
The station is available on Apple Music on both Mac and PC as well as on mobile devices and Apple TV. However, some international users are reporting that they don’t see the station appearing in their own countries, which indicates this may be a U.S.-only launch.
In addition to the new station, Apple is also offering the soundtrack to the new film, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” for pre-order on iTunes and is selling a Star Wars collection of digital movies for the limited-time price of $89.99 for the HD bundle.
Apple is hardly the only tech company helping to promote the highly anticipated movie…and boosting its own bottom line in the process. In recent days, Google has also rolled out tools to theme your entire Google experience from Gmail and Chrome and beyond; a “Star Wars” edition of Google Cardboard and accompanying VR story; and a way to use your phone as a lightsaber. Even Amazon is getting in on the action (beyond, likely, spiking sales of “Star Wars” merchandise) as its virtual assistant Alexa found in the connected speaker Echo now answers “Star Wars” trivia questions…or, if you’re on the dark side, will respond if you tell her to execute “Order 66.”