I will cut to the chase...No, it isn’t perfect. However, none of the other services available are perfect, either. However, it is a great service that I have been enjoying thoroughly since it came to market and it is FREE for 3 months!
What I Like About Apple Music
I have three words for you: Siri, Siri, Siri. I have heard some complaints at how much has been packed into the iOS app and how it has gotten more complicated. Yeah, it has “For You”, “New”, “Radio”, “Connect”, and “My Music”. Just because it has tons of features, it doesn’t mean you have to use every single feature all the time. I tried Beats 1, for example, and it did not fit my taste. Nothing wrong with that. I also use Adobe’s Photoshop app and have never used the 3D feature or many other features. It is still one of my favorite programs for photography.
That being said, any idiot can use Siri. You simply push a button and say, for example, “Play James Taylor’s Newest album” and his newest album “Before the World” will start playing. Want to add it to your music collection? Just say “Add the album to My Music” and it is added. Want to hear a specific album? I just say “Play Sonny Rollins Way out West” and it starts playing. For those that are so confused by the app, just stick to this format and you should be just fine. You can also just say “play top hits from 1977” or “let’s listen to some jazz” or “play something by the Beastie Boys” and it simply starts playing. Since it is intertwined with my collection, I can also say “Play Revolver Mono Remaster” and its starts playing The Beatles “Revolver (2009 Mono Remaster)” even though it isn't available on Apple Music.
That being said, any idiot can use Siri. You simply push a button and say, for example, “Play James Taylor’s Newest album” and his newest album “Before the World” will start playing. Want to add it to your music collection? Just say “Add the album to My Music” and it is added. Want to hear a specific album? I just say “Play Sonny Rollins Way out West” and it starts playing. For those that are so confused by the app, just stick to this format and you should be just fine. You can also just say “play top hits from 1977” or “let’s listen to some jazz” or “play something by the Beastie Boys” and it simply starts playing. Since it is intertwined with my collection, I can also say “Play Revolver Mono Remaster” and its starts playing The Beatles “Revolver (2009 Mono Remaster)” even though it isn't available on Apple Music.
To test the ease of use, I asked my girlfriend, that never uses music apps (she likes SiriusXM in the car with an occasional CD thrown in for good measure), to play Journey's Escape using the app. Five seconds later, her album was playing. She intuitively knew to use the search button and type in the album name.
To say it is complicated is to say that plumbing is complicated every time you use the faucet.
To say it is complicated is to say that plumbing is complicated every time you use the faucet.
For You
I have mentioned that I loved Beats “For You” section and I am very happy they brought it over to Apple Music. I also thought ”The Sentence” was a dumb gimmick and it is gone. The “For You” section is fantastic. You start the service by choosing balloons of your favorite genres and artists and it continues to gather more information for suggestions by who you follow.
The choices they come up with have been interesting, imaginative, and simply a fantastic way to discover new music. I have tried every service out there and the curation on Apple Music is the best (at least for me).
The choices they come up with have been interesting, imaginative, and simply a fantastic way to discover new music. I have tried every service out there and the curation on Apple Music is the best (at least for me).
Your Own Music Along for the Ride
I was already a member of iTunes Match, but having that music available alongside the on-demand streaming app just makes me want to use the service more often. I have seen a couple bugs in my collection, like the app showing a picture of Koko Taylor when I pull up the artist Willie Dixon, but it is hardly even a real problem and I am sure Apple will get the issue fixed in time. However, having the Beatles available at the touch of a button or via a voice command is simply priceless.
New Stuff
The New Music section is a welcome update from when I tested Beats Music last year. Now you can get to all of the new releases much easier. I also like the tab at the top that lets you choose different genres. That way, if you are a fan of Jazz music, you don’t have to suffer through a bunch of releases in other categories. Just go straight to Jazz and you have “new music”, “hot tracks”, “recent releases”, “top songs”, “more top charts” (this pulls up top songs, albums, and videos), playlists, and more.
I should mention that I have several books (like All Music and Rolling Stone Album Guide) about music, so I love to dig deep into certain genres. Personally, I consider this type of variety in many genres to by one of the best things about the service, but I can see how some would consider it complicated. For those people, see my section above related to Siri.
I should mention that I have several books (like All Music and Rolling Stone Album Guide) about music, so I love to dig deep into certain genres. Personally, I consider this type of variety in many genres to by one of the best things about the service, but I can see how some would consider it complicated. For those people, see my section above related to Siri.
iTunes
iTunes got an overhaul to include Apple Music. I personally prefer using iOS since you get Siri, but there is one major plus to the iTunes implementation….multi-room Airplay. While I don’t know why this isn’t implemented on iOS, it is nice to have it built right into the iTunes interface. The Beats1 radio service is not currently compatible with Airplay in iTunes, but you can still use Airfoil to send audio where you want it.
Complaints?
Overall, they have given us a lot of options. However, I still have a few small complaints:
1. I will complain about the lack of Apple Music Multi-Room Airplay implementation in iOS until the cows come home. iOS is able to do this without an issue with the Whaale app, so it makes no sense that this isn’t available right now.
2. Remote app or Apple Music on iOS needs to be updated to control Apple Music running on a computer. You can control Spotify and Rdio running on OSX with their iOS apps, so there is no reason Apple can’t get this done.
3. Lack of continue play - When a song ends, I want to continue to listen to related music. I don’t want music to end until I tell it to. Rdio already has this feature.
4. Lack of bit rate adjustability - A lot of people want to use lower bitrates because of their cellular data plans. The other services let you independently control the bitrate on cellular and wifi. Apple Music needs this, too.
5. Lack of choice in artist radio - Rdio has a slider for "artist only" that slides to "adventurous". Nothing like it on Apple Music.
6. No AppleTV? Really Apple, you don't even support your own stuff? It is supposed to be coming in the Fall, but I want it now!
7. I love the ability to watch videos and I like how easy it is to find video in iOS (Tidal could learn from the Apple implementation). However, I could not find a way to open it in full screen on the iPad, there isn't a native Airplay button for video, and when I tried mirroring from iOS the screen would go black. If this is some sort of licensing issue, Apple should have fought harder to get Airplay compatibility. If it is a bug, hopefully, it will be resolved soon.
8. Bitrate - I would love to see lossless streaming for more money (like Tidal), but I know I am just dreaming.
1. I will complain about the lack of Apple Music Multi-Room Airplay implementation in iOS until the cows come home. iOS is able to do this without an issue with the Whaale app, so it makes no sense that this isn’t available right now.
2. Remote app or Apple Music on iOS needs to be updated to control Apple Music running on a computer. You can control Spotify and Rdio running on OSX with their iOS apps, so there is no reason Apple can’t get this done.
3. Lack of continue play - When a song ends, I want to continue to listen to related music. I don’t want music to end until I tell it to. Rdio already has this feature.
4. Lack of bit rate adjustability - A lot of people want to use lower bitrates because of their cellular data plans. The other services let you independently control the bitrate on cellular and wifi. Apple Music needs this, too.
5. Lack of choice in artist radio - Rdio has a slider for "artist only" that slides to "adventurous". Nothing like it on Apple Music.
6. No AppleTV? Really Apple, you don't even support your own stuff? It is supposed to be coming in the Fall, but I want it now!
7. I love the ability to watch videos and I like how easy it is to find video in iOS (Tidal could learn from the Apple implementation). However, I could not find a way to open it in full screen on the iPad, there isn't a native Airplay button for video, and when I tried mirroring from iOS the screen would go black. If this is some sort of licensing issue, Apple should have fought harder to get Airplay compatibility. If it is a bug, hopefully, it will be resolved soon.
8. Bitrate - I would love to see lossless streaming for more money (like Tidal), but I know I am just dreaming.
Final Thoughts for Now
While there are more features and bugs (or things missing) that I mention here, keep in mind that the service is on version 1 and it is free for 3 months. That makes it a "no brainer" to at least give it a try if you are on iOS (it won't be on Android until the Fall) . I have mentioned my love for Rdio in the past but Apple Music may be enough to get me to switch. The Siri integration and iTunes Matching features are just huge advantages even if Rdio has so many great features that Apple currently doesn't match.
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