Apple, Vice Team For Six-Part Docuseries Diving Into Local Music Scenes

Apple Music has launched today a six-part docuseries titled The Score in collaboration with media giant Vice.

The first episode of the series, which will dive into local music scenes around the world, is called Reservation Rap and highlights Minnesota’s Native American hip hop scene. You can check out a trailer for the episode, which is live now on Apple Music, below.) Additional installments — taking viewers to Brazil, Iceland, and Vietnam  — will premiere every other week, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and will be accompanied by an Apple Music playlist highlighting featured artists and songs.

“Not only will we tell these stories,” Vice creative director Kelly Fulton told the Reporter, “we’re actually giving these musicians a platform that they otherwise wouldn’t have had.” The Score

was inspired by the 2007 Vice documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, she added.

The Score follows other nascent efforts by the hardware goliath as it forays into the content business. Apple is also reportedly developing a semi-autobiographical scripted series about Dr. Dre, who is also slated to star in the project. Other projects include the exclusive distribution of Taylor Swift’s The 1989 World Tour Live concert film, and a visual radio show starring Snapchat svengali DJ Khaled.

However, The Score’s subject and format would seem to confirm a content strategy previously reported by Re/code, which suggests that Apple isn’t banking on original content as an end in itself but rather as a marketing vehicle for Apple Music.

Apple Music, which reportedly counts 11 million subscribers, costs $10 per month.