Apple Music: 100 Best Albums

A celebration of Apple Music’s inaugural list of the greatest records ever made, Apple Music: 100 Best Albums is a lasting companion piece to the digital initiative, which launched on Apple Music in 2024. With a release limited to 1,500 copies, the books are housed in sleek, transparent acrylic slipcases, each individually etched with its edition number. Inside, readers will find the featured albums, selected by Apple Music’s team of experts alongside an exclusive group of artists including Maren Morris, Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Charli XCX, Mark Hoppus, Honey Dijon, and Nia Archives, as well as songwriters, producers, and industry professionals. The list is a wholly editorial statement that does not fit any neatly defined criteria—and is fully independent of any streaming numbers. In effect, it’s a love letter to the records that have shaped the world music lovers live and listen in.

 
Encompassing more than 65 years of music—and multiple genres, from country, pop, and rock to hip-hop and electronic—the list spans from 1959, with Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, to as recently as Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, which debuted in 2022. The list, which includes artists as stylistically diverse as Billie Eilish and Metallica, Travis Scott and Talking Heads, invited spirited conversations around the world. “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,” says Zane Lowe, global creative director and co-head of artist relations at Apple Music.
Each entry includes Apple Music’s beloved liner notes, in-depth analysis that brilliantly captures the significance of the album, both to the artists and to the art of music itself. “What we found,” says Lowe, “is that truly great albums are more than just a collection of songs—they become a part of you, a part of your life story. They’re heartbreak, pain, trauma, joy, revolution, and resolution.”

 
Every book comes in a custom-designed translucent acrylic slipcase etched with the Apple Music logo, while the linen hardcover is debossed with the same logo to perfectly line up behind the etching. The back of the case is engraved with the edition number, and inside the book there is a hand-numbered ex libris to further highlight the limited nature of this release. The edges of the book’s pages are gilded with a sparkling gold that mirrors the title on the spine.