- Apple Music has released a $450 coffee table book of its top 100 albums list.
- The book, limited to 1,500 copies, includes album analyses and facts.
- Apple partnered with Assouline, known for luxury books, to publish the collection.
Apple has turned its top 100 albums list into a coffee table book, and it’s selling a limited batch for $450 each.
When Apple Music released its ranking of the best albums of all time in May, it sparked debate among music fans. On Monday, it announced that the highly-discussed list is becoming a collector’s item.
“Apple Music: 100 Best Albums” is available for preorder, and the book’s description said it’s a limited release of only 1,500 copies. Each entry of the 208-page book comes with an analysis of each album’s significance and some facts.
Apple Music’s global creative director and cohead of artist relations, Zane Lowe, wrote the foreword.
“If our list sparks more debate among fans outside of Apple Music and gets people talking passionately about the music they love, then we’ve done what we set out to do,” Lowe previously said.
Assouline
Apple partnered with Assouline, a New York-based publishing company. Some of Assouline’s bestsellers include coffee table books on former tennis star Roger Federer, Barbie, and fashion brand Chanel (its “Chanel: The Impossible Collection” is for sale for over $1,000).
“Apple Music: 100 Best Albums” isn’t the tech giant’s first foray into publishing books. Apple came out with “Designed by Apple in California” in 2016, which showed designs by former Apple design exec Jony Ive.
The 300-page book retailed for $199 for the small size and $299 for the large until it was discontinued in 2019 and was criticized for its price at the time. Business Insider’s own 2016 review decided against spending $300 on it.
Years after it was pulled from shelves, the design book is going for over 10 times its original price, in some instances, on eBay. One seller had a brand new large book listed for $2,400 as of Tuesday morning.
Neither Apple nor Assouline immediately responded to a request for comment from BI. According to the site, the estimated shipping date for the new Apple Music book is January.
It’s unclear if the profits from this drop will count toward revenue for Apple’s Services department. This department includes subscription-based services like Apple Music, and its sales have boomed in recent quarters.
