Janice R. Andrews
Apple’s latest venture into luxury publishing brings music history to coffee tables through a collaborative project with Assouline. The new book, Apple Music: 100 Best Albums, showcases Apple’s curated selection of history’s greatest albums, available in a limited run of 1,500 copies at $450 each.
Building on their May release of the top 100 albums list, Apple enhances the collection with detailed analysis and little-known facts about each recording. Global creative director Zane Lowe provides the book’s introduction, adding industry perspective to this musical journey through time.
The 208-page volume pairs each featured album with critical commentary and historical context. New York’s Assouline, known for premium publications about cultural icons like Roger Federer, Chanel, and Barbie—some commanding prices exceeding $1,000—brings their signature sophistication to the project.
This release follows Apple’s earlier collector’s book success, Designed by Apple in California. That 2016 publication, featuring Jony Ive’s design work, initially drew price criticism at $200-300 but later saw copies reselling for up to $2,400 on eBay.
Apple Music: 100 Best Albums opens for preorders now, with delivery scheduled for January. While its impact on Apple’s service revenue stream remains to be seen, the exclusive nature of this musical compendium is likely to attract both serious collectors and passionate music enthusiasts.
