Apple are known for being ahead of the times when it comes to the technological world but in regards to music streaming, they’re only just catching on. Last month saw the release of the hotly anticipated Apple Music, a streaming service set to push the likes of Spotify, Pandora and Soundcloud out of the market. As an automatic addition with the latest update on apple devices, it won’t be long before tens of millions at least have it, even if they choose not to use it. This is a huge step towards a streaming dominated music industry.
Apple have had some unexpected publicity through Taylor Swift’s ‘To Apple, love Taylor’ letter, which she broadcast to her 60.5 million twitter followers, criticising Apple for expecting artists to provide their music for free during the three month free trial. Perhaps this was not what Apple wanted to be reading just two weeks before the release, and they decided to change their policy and pay the artists in an apparent bid to iron out any negativity, but it got the word out and Apple consequently has a one up on any other streaming service: Tay Tay’s music can be streamed. But for those of you who are not convinced by this alone, here is a brief introduction to Apple Music.
For the last couple of years, I have been an avid Spotify user and to be honest, there isn’t a lot of difference; Apple Music just seems newer and fresher. Apple has more technological experience than the rest of the streaming world put together and the fact that their service is running on their own products gives them an inevitable advantage. Additionally, they are offering a three-month free trial, triple that of Spotify. For us, that means we have free music for summer, for Apple it likely means that people will have time for Apple Music to become and integral and irreplaceable part of their lives. After this time, with no free option like Spotify, Apple will charge £9.99 a month for single usage or £14.99 for a Family Membership on up to 6 devices.
The first tab on the Apple Music app is ‘For you’. This is tailored to your specific music tastes based on which artists you follow and which genre’s you have liked. Here you will find playlists and artists recommended for you. One of the best features here are the ‘Introduction to’ playlists. These are playlists of around 12 songs that span a certain artist’s career, a great way to discover your new favourite. There are also ‘Penning Pop’ playlists, which are composed of songs written by a particular writer, giving these creators some notability.
Secondly there is the ‘New’ tab, which is somewhat overwhelming! You can view and play hot tracks as well as songs, albums and videos from the charts. Below this you can find recent releases, recommended music videos and most excitingly a selection of songs by new artists. It’s an easy way for you to stay up to date with the latest tracks and what’s trending.
The radio tab does what it says on the tin. The ‘beats 1’ 24 hour radio station based in the LA, New York and London plays the current most popular hits and has been compared to Radio 1. There are also radios for all genres of music but these are more of a collection of songs, which you can skip, rather than an actual radio broadcast.
The connect tab gives you updates on artists you follow. It’s nothing special; you get the same info you get from social media. Maybe I’m just following the wrong artists but I am yet to find anything very exclusive. It is also designed to allow you to get a closer connection with the artists as you can comment on their updates, but again this is just like social media.
The final tab is ‘My Music’ which is where you can find your account details, search for songs and view your library and playlists. Any music that is already on your device from iTunes is automatically transferred to this section of the app. You can download songs onto your device so that they can be listened to offline and Apple’s download times are a lot faster than other streaming services I have tried.
So Apple Music is no breakthrough, its pretty similar to what we have seen already. However I will make the switch from Spotify because its slick and fresh but also I think it will become, if it isn’t already, unavoidable for Apple product users.
Words by Ella Khalek