Apple Music is getting a little bit of luxury.
Burberry, the high-end fashion retailer, said on Monday that it was starting a channel on Apple Music, the streaming music service. The channel will feature performances, songs and films that have come out of Burberry’s work with British artists.
The deal is the first collaboration between the two companies since Apple in 2013 hired away Angela Ahrendts, then Burberry’s chief executive, to become senior vice president of retail and online stores. Since Ms. Ahrendts left Burberry, industry observers have wondered whether Apple and Burberry would work together and whether that collaboration would involve retail. Apple recently chose to work with a different high-end retailer, Hermès, to make luxury wristbands for the Apple Watch.
The partnership is also a new feature for Apple Music, which began in June. Apple is a latecomer to the streaming music space, which has been dominated by other services such as Spotify. Apple said that 11 million people had signed up for the service, while Spotify has 75 million active users and 20 million paying subscribers. Since Apple Music users get a three-month free trial period, the company won’t know for a few weeks yet whether those who initially signed up stay on after the trial ends and pay the $10-a-month price.
Burberry has been commissioning work from and filming British recording artists since 2010 as part of its Burberry Acoustic program. The 100 or so performances that have come out of that project have been shown on YouTube.
“I am excited about our partnership with Apple on this amazing platform which will enable us to take what we do now with Burberry Acoustic and share it with an even bigger audience,” Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief executive and chief creative officer, said in a statement.
Burberry’s Apple Music channel will kick off with exclusive videos from emerging British artists that will be filmed at the Burberry Womenswear show. The show is scheduled to take place Sept. 21 in London.
Once Burberry takes those performances to Apple Music, subscribers can comment on and share the content using Facebook, Twitter, email and Apple’s Messages tool.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.