App of the Week: Apple Music Hands On Review -- iTunes for the Streaming Age
Apple released 'Music' along with iOS 8.4 and OS X 10.10.4 this week. Far more than a Spotify rival, this app represents the most ambitious (and much-needed) update in years to Apple's iTunes-rooted music empire.
Much of the hype preceding the launch of Apple Music has centered on the celebrity DJs and radio stations like Beats 1. And for good reason. These are great (and simple) particular selling points for Apple Music, both for longtime iTunes users and the uninitiated.
But Apple Music is so much more. After taking a tour through Apple Music for iPhone and Mac (also known as iTunes) it's clear that Music's streaming library, playlists, and its multifarious integrations with your personal iTunes collection are the long-term strengths of the Apple Music service. And that should scare Spotify -- and every other music app/service out there.
Getting Started with Apple Music
As we explained in our Tap That App video review, getting started with Apple Music on the iPhone is super simple -- and the process is similar in iTunes on the Mac.
First, Apple wants to make a profile of your musical tastes, so you're asked to click on friendly floating bubbles that narrow your profile by genre and artist. The same happens in iTunes when you click on the new "For You" tab at the top.
Once you're done, Music sets you up with a page of playlists and albums suggested for you. Unlike the insta-personalization done rather clumsily in iTunes Radio a couple of years ago, "For You" is pretty good right off the bat.
And I suspect more use will lead to even better personalization. For example, as soon as I downloaded a track to "My Music," I discovered I was automatically following the track's artist.
That said, the hype around Apple's celebrity DJ'd radio stations was way overblown. Yes, Beats 1 is now available on Music and in iTunes Radio, but that station still leads a section mostly built out of generic genre stations and weak, computerized "more like this" stations. Check out Dash Radio (and our previous Tap That App review) if you want a multichannel, truly old-style radio experience.
iTunes for the Streaming Age
The most impressive thing about Apple Music is the bevvy of curated playlists available in the results page of practically every search, many of which will undoubtedly lead to discovering new artists, as it did for me within the first 10 minutes of using Music on Mac's iTunes.
That, and the giant, deep, and varied master iTunes library that Apple has built. And this is where Music becomes apparent as the most essential enhancement to iTunes in years -- and one could make Apple the undisputed king of digital (thus, all) consumer music again.
This is no iTunes Radio or "Genius" feature, both half-realized and immediately deemed unessential by most. Apple's Music streaming service basically opens up the iTunes Store to free and extensive exploration -- especially by customers who would have never bothered to take a tour when the "store" revolved solely around purchases.
To put it differently: Imagine you never bought a track on iTunes, for whatever reason -- maybe but used Spotify, traditionally buy tracks elsewhere, or don't believe in paying for digital music -- but you use iTunes to organize and play your collection.
Now, even though you never gave it a chance, would you consider exploring the iTunes Store if those 30-second previews were full-length? What if that was the case for three months, free?
The shift might cost Apple some iTunes purchase revenue, but the potential for returning or new customers with an offering like this is staggering. In any case, reports already indicate that iTunes purchases are down, while streaming is up so far this year.
The streaming service is cleverly intertwined with your personal iTunes collections and playlists. You can add music to your personal iTunes playlists or follow curated playlists and even take those tunes for offline listening. When you save a tune offline to "My Music" it shows up in your library just like any other purchased or imported track, just with the "Kind" column showing "Apple Music AAC Audio file" to mark the track.
If it sounds like Apple Music's offline add-a-track feature could lead to confusion over what music is "yours" and which tracks are Apple's, you're right -- that seems to be the point.
Apple's commingling personal collections, streaming saves, and the iTunes Store could easily lead to new users getting used to the streaming service and keeping it, as well as becoming occasional iTunes Store shoppers. That, in turn, could help Apple keep the purchase model of digital music alive a little longer and open users to the wider iTunes-based media ecosystem that Apple has built over the last decade (and is reportedly about to enhance with the new Apple TV with more streaming capabilities and possibly OTT Internet TV).
Tap That App
Overall, it's a brilliant move for Apple's future in the marketplace. But as a music snob who's tried dozens of services, players, and radio apps, I have to say it's also great for users. It's impressively easy to navigate and the music catalogue is pretty impressive so far.
It also may be the best way to discover new favorites I've ever tried. When Apple makes the Music app available for Android in the Fall, I might become a tried-and-true Apple Music convert.
If you have an iPhone or iTunes on your desktop and an iCloud account with a credit card attached already, you should definitely try Apple Music, even if you initially plan to cancel your $10 subscription after the first three months.
But you never know: Three months from now, Apple Music could be essential for your daily listening.
Apple Music comes with the iOS 8.4 update on iPhone and OS X 10.10.4 iTunes update on Mac.
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