Apple Music is the latest from Apple with unlimited streaming of the iTunes library, though it isn't yet ready to truly compete with other streaming services like Spotify.
After the success of Spotify, Google Play and Pandora Internet Radio, Apple decided to join the music streaming world. The child of iTunes, Apple Music offers unlimited access to music from the company’s iTunes library for a monthly fee instead of having to pay per song. It’s easy to see the appeal, with Apple Music providing access to iTunes’ library of 30 million songs with one subscription.
Even so, it still doesn’t impress.
Getting Started
Logging on to the new Apple Music app, you’re prefaced with an immediate need to put in your credit card information. The software is giving users a free three-month trial as long as you sign up for a subscription that starts immediately after those three months have finished. There is the $9.99 per month individual subscription fee or the $14.99 per month family package.
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The best part is getting to use bubbles to show preferences in music. Popping the bubbles shows dislike for that artist or genre while a double tap shows love for them. Apple Music then uses that information to show you artists and songs you might enjoy.
Using Apple Music
The opening screen displays Apple Music-created playlists and full albums to listen to. My music seemed to be my entire seventh grade existence with artists such as Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift’s old albums. I was excited to see some of my old friends back, but then realized I already had all those songs and albums in my iTunes library. It was as though Apple Music took my old music and just brought it up to the front of my screen.
I shook off the memories of passing notes and black nail polish and chose to explore the Beats 1 radio.
Apple bought Beats Electronics for $3 billion one year ago and has included the company in its new software. Stations include iTunes Weekly Top 50–Pop, All-City and good ole NPR News and Culture.
The radio stations felt like a cross of Pandora and iHeartRadio, but with unlimited song skips yet limited stations. With Beats boasting high sound quality, it amazed me to hear such a low quality in its music.
Growing bored with the limited radio stations, I decided to see if I could listen to virtually anything, and I wasn’t let down. Even my old high school boyfriend’s band was included in the artists, proving that every song iTunes had is available on Apple Music, as promised.
The Pros
Apple Music has access to many artists that other streaming services don’t have. Lots of the obscure music only found on iTunes can be listened to repeatedly and found easily through the search bar.
The user interface was fairly easy to access once gotten used to.
Browsing both Apple Music and other apps doesn’t interrupt the song. Most importantly, you can still use Snapchat with the app playing music in the background, adding a soundtrack to your snap.
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Being allowed to connect with artists is an awesome treat. The app’s “Connect” feed allows users to view content from the artists such as videos and pictures. A lot of artists are on tour over the summer, and the Connect feed gave access to otherwise unattainable behind-the-scenes content.
The Cons
Users create their own playlists, but it takes a very long time to figure out how to do so. The option to add music to a playlist is present, but it can be harder to understand how to actually create a usable playlist.
Also, Apple Music allows you to listen to those playlists and its music while connected to the Internet, but it will use cellular data if you are not. You can, of course, turn off that setting but Apple Music will not work without a connection. With Spotify Premium, you can save a playlist to the app and have full access to it without WiFi or cell service -- a solid feature that should have been included with Apple Music.
The music shown on the “For You” portion seemed to be a lot of music I had heard before or even owned already in my iTunes library. While the “New” section seemed to have a lot of unheard music, it didn’t have anything that interested me. Random music was added daily but didn’t cater to my interests. The new music based on my preferences should have been placed first, instead of the huge banner saying Kidz Bop 29 was ready for me.
Is It Worth It?
Apple Music will be well received by Apple fanatics but will take a while getting the approval of everyday music listeners.
While Apple Music has great aspects to it, it lacks the wow factor associated with most Apple products. The software is still new and needs a few glitches worked out. Prices are similar to that of Spotify Premium and Spotify, which are more stable services, so it is hard to justify making the switch over.
@eliciacgibson
eg655211@ohio.edu
