--- description: Many are wondering about the future of Beats. title: Southwest Airlines Is Now Offering Free Beats Music image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98ec9fe5aeb92b1b/6987640255a8598cb9a8390d/beats-music-southwest-airlines.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Southwest Airlines Is Now Offering Free Beats Music  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 3, 2014 10:47 PM CUT  Southwest Airlines introduces Beats Music on WiFi-enabled aircraft. Southwest Airlines introduces Beats Music on WiFi-enabled aircraft.Southwest Airlines  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 3, 2014 10:47 PM CUT Southwest Airlines is now offering free Beats Music to passengers connected to in-flight Wi-Fi, the Dallas-based airline [announced](http://swamedia.com/channels/Southwest-News/releases/southwest-airlines-launches-new-onboard-entertainment-service-with-beats-music?l=en-US "undefined") Monday. Flyers will see a promotion for the streaming service on their devices’ browsers upon connecting to Wi-Fi, and then will receive a custom playlist based information they provide about their mood, location and preferences, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson [told](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/03/southwest-airlines-offers-free-streaming-of-apples-beats-music-service/ "undefined") the New York _Times_. After three songs, passengers will be asked to provide their e-mail, and afterwards they can continue to listen to Beats Music for free. “We continue to enhance our onboard offerings to remain current as our customers’ needs evolve, and with the addition of Beats Music on our entertainment portal, we’re doing just that,” Kevin Krone, Southwest Airlines Chief Marketing Officer, said in a [press release](http://swamedia.com/channels/Southwest-News/releases/southwest-airlines-launches-new-onboard-entertainment-service-with-beats-music?l=en-US "undefined"). Southwest said the Beats partnership had been in the works for a year, months before Beats’ $3 billion acquisition in August by Apple. Apple has yet to disclose its plans for the on-demand music service, but it said in September that TechCrunch’s [report](http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/22/apple-plans-to-shut-down-beats-music/ "undefined") of Apple’s plan to shut down Beats Music was not true. Still, some say it’s only a matter of time before [Apple’s similar service, iTunes Radio, absorbs the Beats brand.](http://time.com/3421877/apple-beats-music/ "undefined") Southwest’s free Beats deal is the latest example of promotions at 30,000 ft., where busy or bored customers are logging onto the [increasingly many in-flight Wi-Fi services](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/business/in-flight-wi-fi-still-costly-but-more-available.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). T-Mobile, for example, announced in September that it would offer [free texting over in-flight Wi-Fi.](http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/free-in-flight-wifi-texting-uncarrier.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3555402/southwest-airlines-beats-music/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3555402/southwest-airlines-beats-music/"},"headline":"Southwest Airlines Is Now Offering Free Beats Music","datePublished":"2014-11-03T22:47:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:03:35.348Z","description":"Many are wondering about the future of Beats, which was acquired by Apple this year","url":"https://time.com/3555402/southwest-airlines-beats-music/","keywords":["Tech","Transportation","Music","Media","Aviation","Travel","Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98ec9fe5aeb92b1b/6987640255a8598cb9a8390d/beats-music-southwest-airlines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98ec9fe5aeb92b1b/6987640255a8598cb9a8390d/beats-music-southwest-airlines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beats Music Free Southwest Airlines","caption":"Beats Music Free Southwest Airlines","creditText":"Southwest Airlines","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3555402/southwest-airlines-beats-music/","name":"Southwest Airlines Is Now Offering Free Beats Music"}}]}] ```