Few platform releases this year generated the headlines that Apple Music did. For better or worse, the new music service has rarely been out of the news since launch and is unlikely to do so anytime soon.
Apple’s biggest strength is taking something complicated, dressing it up in beautiful design, adding an intuitive user interface, and creating something that anyone can use. Unfortunately, Apple Music is currently none of those things. Even more unfortunately, that won’t matter as it will be a huge success anyway.
Apple Music is a fantastic opportunity for users to access over 30 million tracks in the iTunes library. It will also be the default player for your Apple devices once you upgrade to iOS 8.4.
The app is made up of five sections: For You, New, Radio, Connect and My Music. For You is where Apple selects music you might like based on your playlists or listening history. New is where you will find every new release on the platform. Radio does exactly what it says on the label and also features Apple’s own Beats 1 station. Connect is where artists can connect with their audience with a range of social features and My Music is where you can access your stored content.
Currently, Apple Music is offering a free 90-day trial. Once that trial expires, it will cost $9.99 a month or $14.99 a month for up to six users. This will entitle you to all the services and a library of over 30 million tracks. That’s as large as Spotify and is growing all the time.
The more you use Apple Music, the better the For You section will become. Currently it is a strong point of the app, with the vast majority of the suggestions hitting the right note. This is a highlight of the app so far.
Apple Music isn’t without its downsides though. Once you have downloaded the app, it’s a bit slow to load. Even the desktop version seems a little heavy. Once loaded though it’s pretty seamless to use. Playlists are also a little short, only about an hour’s play per list, which isn’t enough considering Spotify gives you several hours at a time. Playlists are also created by Apple. There are no user created playlists yet, which is a shame.
There are also bugs. One of which involves the iCloud Music Library. When turning it on in the app, locally stored music can disappear. This is a problem for many users but can be circumvented by not turning it on.
Overall, Apple Music is a good music app but not yet a great one. The interface is a little clumsy and it isn’t without its teething problems. However, once these are ironed out, it should be a top quality option for those who love their music and are willing to pay for it.
Jesmond Darmanin is a technology enthusiast who has his own blog at www.itnewsblog.com.