Apple has talked a lot about how it’s tackling curation better than the other guys by putting a big focus on hand-picked, human curated playlists for Apple Music, but how exactly does a user’s input alter the music the app serves up? The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple spoke directly with Apple to answer that question and put together a guide detailing exactly how likes and other user input work to customize some aspects of Apple Music but not others:
First, let me tell you one of my big problems, or sources of confusion, with likes on streaming services. Let’s say I’m listening to a Metal station and a great song comes on, but I consider it to be Rock. Do I like it? I enjoy the song, but I’m afraid if I like it, more Rock songs will come on the Metal station, diluting it… What if I don’t like it? Will it never show up again, even in Rock? Perhaps I should skip it, but is that equivalent to a “dislike”?
The guide is great if you really want to make the most of the service, but further proof that Apple Music is a complicated mess and not very intuitive for users when it comes to how likes, hearts, and other user input features of the service affect recommendations.
Head over to The Loop for the full guide on how the way you use Apple Music might make for a better, more personalized experience.
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I’m loving the “For You” feature and the Beats1 radio where I discover new tunes to add to my music collection. I don’t manage playlist or stations. I do put all my music is one big pile and hit shuffle play randomly or if I want to hear a specific song, I use it as my stater for a Genius Mix. I’m so glad Genius Mix feature is still there. When I really want to be hands on, I use the add to “Play Next” feature to insert a track I want to hear or I feel might go great with what’s currently playing.
That’s about it. I collect great music and hit shuffle 95% of the time. Apple Music is suiting my needs, I just want to enjoy my old tunes and discover some new one to listen to them in a mishmash eclectic order that goes together.
I like the fact that I can love individual tracks or even entire albums.
If only the matching of iCloud Music service worked better and one could easily revert mistake or force uploads of non-correctly matches songs….
To be fair, Jim’s problem description was specifically directed at (and applies to) *all* streaming services – not Apple music. The fact that every streaming service does things differently is not “further proof that Apple Music is a complicated mess and not very intuitive for users”.
You’re taking things way out of context here..