Apple Music Rolling Out Update With 'Coming Soon' Section, Album Launch Dates, and New Artist Profiles

Apple appears to be rolling out a series of updates for Apple Music today, including a small but useful new section called "Coming Soon," which allows subscribers to check out new albums about to be released over the next few weeks. On iOS and macOS, the hub is located in the Browse tab > New Music > scroll down to find Coming Soon > tap "See All." Music Videos were previously the last thing to see here, but now Apple has introduced Coming Soon as well.

apple music coming soon
The hub lists artists from a variety of different genres, with impending albums from Panic! At The Disco ("Pray For the Wicked", June 22), Florence + The Machine ("High As Hope", June 29), Interpol ("Marauder", August 24), and more. With only about 10 albums listed, Coming Soon isn't an entirely definitive source of every upcoming album on Apple Music, but albums have been added to the section throughout the morning so it appears Apple will be continuously expanding this area.

On macOS, there is a drop down menu for sorting options, but it only has a "Recent Bestsellers" option at this point. Apple could update this to make it even easier to sort upcoming albums by release dates, genres, and more. On iOS, however, there is no sorting option at this time.

macos music coming soon

Coming Soon on macOS

In another addition, Apple is now making it possible to easily see album launch dates on their respective pages on iOS and macOS. In the Editors' Notes section, following the traditional encouragement to add the pre-release album to your library, there's a new line that begins "Album expected..." followed by the album's specific release date. Some albums not listed in Coming Soon still have a release date specified on their pages, so this update appears to be a bit more wide-ranging.

Lastly, another rollout appears to be happening today in regards to artist profiles, showing up as of now only in iTunes on macOS. These profiles have a slightly tweaked layout with artist portraits in circular bubbles, and a "Featured Release" that includes release dates.

new apple music layout
There's also a "Play" button next to the artist's name, which was first noticed by iOS 12 beta testers and appears to be launching now for all Apple Music users, although as of writing MacRumors has only seen profile updates on a computer running macOS 10.13.4 and not on iOS. This button shuffles all of an artist's music at once.

The Coming Soon tab and release dates have appeared for multiple users on iOS 11.4, as well as on macOS 10.13.4. Apple didn't mention Apple Music during its WWDC keynote and at this time doesn't appear to be planning a major update to the app this fall. Besides the updated artist profiles, iOS 12 beta testers have discovered that subscribers will be able to perform searches for music via lyric snippets.

(Thanks, Ram K and Jack!)

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
69 months ago
The UI is still a huge mess

Hopefully iOS 3000 will change that
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zulkiflim Avatar
69 months ago
Apple Music UI is a mess and confusing.

Spotify is more elegant and the the new music showcased is amazing ...

Apple Music keeps showing me the same songs over and over again.
Spotify changes every day !! i found loads of cool new artists.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
happysymptom Avatar
69 months ago
Apple Music UI is a mess and confusing.

Spotify is more elegant and the the new music showcased is amazing ...

Apple Music keeps showing me the same songs over and over again.
Spotify changes every day !! i found loads of cool new artists.
Depending on your musical tastes, Apple Music's suggestion algorithm is an absolute train-wreck.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Keesmcqueen Avatar
69 months ago
That's all nice and stuff, but I'd rather see them focus their attention on cleaning up their messy UI and doing something about double or triple album listings on artist's pages.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
earthTOmitchel Avatar
69 months ago
Nice to see album release dates in there, although it would be MUCH more useful if that information actually transferred over into your library when pre-releases are added
At this point I'm just happy pre-releases are starting to successfully appear in my library without having to delete what I had before, search, then add it again. Now if notifications just worked!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Squirrelxb Avatar
69 months ago
Oh my god, is this an actual useful update to Apple Music? Waiting for someone to tell me Spotify or Tidal does this already...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple WWDC23 macOS Sonoma hero

macOS Sonoma Launching This Week With These New Features

Sunday September 24, 2023 12:45 pm PDT by
Apple previously announced that macOS Sonoma will be released this Tuesday, September 26. The free software update includes many new features and changes for the Mac, including the five that we have highlighted below. In addition to these five features, we have shared the full release notes for macOS Sonoma below for a complete overview of everything new. Desktop Widgets macOS Sonoma...
iPhone 16 Mock Header With Dynamic Island

Skipping the iPhone 15 Pro? Here's What's Rumored for iPhone 16 Pro

Friday September 22, 2023 9:29 am PDT by
Are you skipping the iPhone 15 Pro and waiting another year to upgrade? If so, we already have some iPhone 16 Pro rumors for you. Below, we recap new features rumored for the iPhone 16 Pro models so far:Larger displays: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, according to Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain...
iPhone 16 Side Feature

iPhone 16 to Include an Additional Capacitive 'Capture' Button

Monday September 25, 2023 12:50 pm PDT by
The iPhone 16 series is expected to gain an additional capacitive button, known internally as the "Capture Button." Codenamed "Project Nova," the button is likely to be one of the main selling points of the iPhone 16 lineup, assuming it gets past the initial testing phase. The Capture Button is located on the same side as the Power button, only positioned slightly lower - where the mmWave cutout...
ipad mini blue

Apple to Launch iPad Mini 7 Later This Year, Industry Report Suggests

Monday September 25, 2023 3:16 am PDT by
Apple could be preparing to release a seventh-generation iPad mini before the end of the year, based on a new report by DigiTimes. In an article discussing stagnating global tablet demand in the second half of 2023, the Taiwan-based outlet forecasts an uptick in Apple's share of the market owing to orders for a "small-size" iPad in the fourth quarter. From the report (see bold): In the...