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Apple brought Drake on stage to talk about the new Apple Music app.
At its big Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple showed off its new Apple Music streaming app, which offers services competing with nearly every other mobile music streaming company on the market.
Apple is a late arrival to the music streaming space, so we'll have to wait and see the impact Apple Music will have on competitors like Pandora and Spotify.
Rdio, one of the more popular music streaming services, issued a response to Apple, it's both smart and sassy.
In a statement emailed to Business Insider, Rdio welcomed Apple to the streaming industry:
Welcome, Apple. Seriously.Welcome to the most exciting and important frontier since the digital music revolution began 16 years ago.We look forward to responsible competition in the massive effort to make music available legally for anyone to enjoy anytime, anywhere.Because what we are doing is increasing the value of music by enhancing each individual's experience with music they love.Welcome to the task.
This statement is short, sweet, and gets to the point. But it also quietly takes aim at the Apple of Yore, and veteran Apple employees will likely immediately recognize the statement's format.
That's because in 1981, IBM announced it was going to make a PC. Apple responded with a full page ad that said:
Welcome IBM,
Seriously.
Welcome to the most exciting and important marketplace since the computer revolution began 35 years ago.
And congratulations on your first personal computer.
Putting real computer power in the hands of the individual is already improving the way people work, think, learn, communicate and spend their leisure hours. Computer literacy is fast becoming as fundamental a skill as reading or writing.
When we invented the first personal computer system, we estimated that over 140,000,000 people worldwide could justify the purchase of one, if only they understood its benefits. Next year alone, we project that well over 1,000,000 will come to the understanding. over the next decade, the growth of the personal computer will continue in logarithmic leaps.
We look forward to responsible competition in the massive effort to distribute this American technology to the world.
Because what we are doing is increasing social capital by enhancing individual productivity.
Welcome to the task.
You see Rdio taking a few pages from the Apple playbook here.
Classy as Rdio's response was, others didn't use the same tact. Spotify CEO Daniel Elk, for instance, simply tweeted "Oh ok" in response to Apple Music. Sadly, Ek decided to delete his tweet shortly thereafter, but chances are Rdio's clever response will likely be the one Apple employees will talk about around the water cooler.