The First Apple Music Book Will Cost You $450

Apple Music has released a limited-edition coffee table book, Apple Music: 100 Best Albums. Yes, a physical book about music on the streaming service, that also costs $450.

The book was produced by Assouline, a publishing house known for its luxury coffee table books. The book is the streaming service’s inaugural list of the greatest records ever made. The book is limited to 1,500 copies, and there will likely not be more printed. The book has a custom-designed translucent acrylic slipcase etched with the Apple Music logo and an edition number. The linen hardcover is debossed with an Apple Music logo, a hand-numbered ex libris, and gold-gilded page edges.

The book has a selection of 100 albums chosen by Apple Music’s team of experts alongside an exclusive group of artists, including Maren Morris, Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Charli XCX, Mark Hoppus, Honey Dijon, and Nia Archives. The list is a wholly editorial statement, independent of any streaming numbers, and spans from 1959 to 2022, encompassing multiple genres. Every album entry in the book includes in-depth liner notes by Apple Music, which lets the owners read a bit about each album.

A few examples in the book are Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Daft Punk’s Discovery, Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run, and Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Based on what is shown from the examples, it seems like the book gives one page for the album cover and the other to describe the album. There are some songs listed in each description, along with some details on what was happening to the artist at the time, to get an idea of their mindset. Finally, it talks about how significant that particular album was to music.

The book costs $450 and can be pre-ordered from the official Assouline website, but it starts shipping on November 25, 2024.

Source: Christina Warren, Assouline