I’m not expecting here to replicate my rather extensive Apple Watch diary series – I doubt this one will run to four pieces. I’m also not starting out here as an Apple Music skeptic. I’ve been using Spotify for years, and – from a brief trial of Beats Music – started out pretty confident I would be jumping ship once Apple Music launched.
But I do think Apple Music has one thing in common with the Watch: I don’t think it’s possible to judge it without a reasonable amount of usage. So I thought I’d begin with my first impressions and then follow up once I’ve used it long enough to have more to say.
I’m not going to dwell on the launch-day glitches, like the welcome screen (above) left over from the beta, the rather belated iTunes update, Beats 1 outage, frequent spinning beachballs in iTunes and the tracks that either refused to play at all or took an age to do so. Half the planet was simultaneously using the service yesterday, so these things will only become issues if they persist. So leaving those aside, what were my first impressions … ? Expand Expanding Close
As promised, Apple has just released the iOS 8.4 software update featuring an all-new Music app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to the public after testing with developers since mid-April. While it includes smaller changes throughout, the update primarily delivers an overhauled Music app with Apple Music (notice the new icon), its brand new subscription music streaming service, and Beats 1, its 24/7 live radio station that launches today. Expand Expanding Close
If you’ve been following your favorite artists on Shazam, you can now find out what music they are checking out using the service. An update to the iOS app due to roll out today lets you see which tracks they are identifying via Shazam.
Shazam says that the feature is available for hundreds of artists, including Alicia Keys, Coldplay, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Shakira, Adam Lambert, Fifth Harmony, Clean Bandit, Maroon 5, Nick Jonas and Jason Derulo.
Don’t expect to catch any of them Shazamming anything terminally uncool, however: artists have the option of keeping individual searches private. The updated app hadn’t yet gone live at the time of writing, but check for it on iTunes later in the day.
The Shazam iOS app got a major revamp toward the end of last year.
Taylor Swift’s 1989 album isn’t the only high profile record exclusive coming to Apple’s new streaming music service when it launches tomorrow. Apple Music is said to include Dr. Dre’s classic album The Chronic for streaming, Rolling Stonereports, which will be a digital first for the hip-hop album. Expand Expanding Close
According to a new report from Variety, Beats was developing a line of Sonos-like speakers before it was acquired by Apple. When the Apple acquisition occurred, development of the connected speakers was stopped, according to the report. Some of the engineers that were working on the project were moved to other teams, while others have since left the company.
The line of speakers that Beats had planned was originally slated to launch before the 2014 holiday season. While the company already offers several Bluetooth-based speakers, the company wanted to develop a new line that combined Bluetooth, WiFi, and NFC technologies to allow for more seamless playback. Beats was planning a large, living room speaker that was reportedly going to be priced at around $750, as well as several smaller, more affordable options.
Apple is introducing full support for audio plug-ins in iOS 9, allowing developers to sell plug-ins like effects and virtual instruments on the App Store that can be used within audio editing apps like Apple’s own GarageBand. Expand Expanding Close
When Apple Music launches around the world on June 30th, the icon for Music on iOS and iTunes on OS X is set to change from the pinkish orange version we’ve had since iOS 7 and OS X 10.10 to one drenched in technicolor (yawn). Apple generally only changes the icon for Music and iTunes after a major feature addition or overall redesign, and the idea here is to attract attention and have more people look within the app to discover Apple Music. But are you a fan of the new icon design? Expand Expanding Close
If you’re an unsigned musician looking for your break into the big time, being featured by Apple during a keynote watched by millions of people around the world isn’t a bad way to start.
When Eddy Cue introduced Apple Music, he used the example of Loren Kramar to demonstrate Apple Music Artist Accounts, more colloquially known as Connect. Any artist, he said, would be able to share content with fans through the social features provided within Apple Music – and he named Kramar as an artist who was “going to be really, really huge.”
Kramar yesterday launched his debut single, My Life, on iTunes. TNW did note earlier that Kramar wasn’t entirely without music connections prior to his new-found fame, having apparently worked with Joe Weinberger, a former music scout at Interscope, which was headed by Jimmy Iovine.
If you’re a musician, we can’t get you featured in a keynote, but we have explained everything you need to know about creating and managing your Connect artist profile page.
Apple today has announced that popular pop band Walk The Moon will perform at the annual WWDC Bash on Thursday, June 11th. The 2015 WWDC Bash is set to take place at 6PM at the Yerba Buena Gardens and is open to all WWDC attendees 18 years or older.
Specific details about Apple Music are still rolling out after the iPhone maker announced its new subscription music service at WWDC yesterday. Music quality for streaming and offline playback is bound to be one concern for potential members and it appears Apple will be taking a conservative approach, according to Slashgear.
Apple Music will be at 256 kbps. In comparison, Beats Music uses a 320 kbps bitrate, as does Spotify, while Tidal offers a high-bitrate option.
By default, Beats Music only streamed at the higher 320kbps MP3 quality on the web and when the setting was changed within the mobile app. Download quality, however, did default to the higher quality version of tracks when available. Expand Expanding Close
While most developers are probably already giving iOS 9 a test drive, Apple is still working on the upcoming iOS 8.4 update and just released a new version. iOS 8.4 build 12H4125a is now available on Apple’s developer center and as an OTA update for testers on the previous version. Expand Expanding Close
Streamed music is great for having access to almost everything, but it isn’t always ideal when you’re on the move thanks to patchy data coverage and carrier data caps. While Apple didn’t mention it yesterday, it has now confirmed to Re/code that Apple Music supports offline listening. The feature is also listed in a feature checklist on Apple’s website.
As an Apple Music member you can add anything from the Apple Music library — a song, an album or a video — to your collection. And that’s just the warm-up act. From there you can create the perfect playlist from anything you’ve added. You can save it for offline listening and take it on the road.
Apple didn’t give any details, but offline listening is likely to work in the same way as Spotify Premium … Expand Expanding Close
Jay-Z’s recently launched Tidal music streaming service, a competitor to Apple’s own services in more ways than one, is today getting a big update right before the debut of the new Apple Music streaming service next week at WWDC. A desktop app beta for both Mac and Windows, $4.99 student pricing, and ticketing features through Ticketmaster integration, all help set a high bar for Apple to impress us with its own announcements next week.
The new desktop app (pictured above) is arriving in beta and brings a few features that weren’t previously possible with the mobile and web apps. The announcement today also includes a refreshed design for the mobile apps: Expand Expanding Close
The Apple Watch has already been seen on a variety of celebrity wrists, including Pharrell, Kanye West, Beyonce, and Katy Perry. Politicians Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich were also recently pictured wearing Apple Watch. Now, however, Apple Watch has made its music video debut thanks to Wiz Khalifa.
Update: Rdio officially announced the new plan today.
Apple is slated to launch its streaming music service next month, but Rdio is trying to cut off a portion of Apple’s market with a new service. BuzzFeed News reports that Rdio plans to introduce a $3.99 a month streaming music service. The service, called Rdio Select, will be significantly limited, which is to be expected given the low price point…
Allegations that Apple is engaging in anti-competitive practices in the run-up to the launch of its rebranded Beats streaming music service are now being investigated by the Department of Justice, according to “multiple sources” cited by The Verge.
The claim is that Apple has been attempting to use its influence to persuade music labels to pull out of deals with free, ad-supported services like Spotify and YouTube in order to reduce competition and increase demand for its own paid service. The European Commission launched an investigation into these same allegations last month …
TuneIn Radio is the latest addition to Apple’s short list of App Store apps that work with the iPhone’s CarPlay feature. The service streams “over 100,000 real radio stations from around the world, including sports, news, talk, and music.” The latest version of TuneIn for iPhone brings radio station streaming to the CarPlay interface and includes Apple Watch support for controlling stations from your wrist. Expand Expanding Close
The videos demonstrate different Apple Watch features, such as taking a phone call, asking Siri for directions, getting navigation turn-by-turn directions in Maps or controlling music playback in the Music app.
In redesigning the iOS Music application for iOS 8.4, Apple removed support for audiobooks from the app, electing to move it to the iBooks app. iBooks itself has gained an all-new audio player with support for swiping gestures to fast forward or rewind, view a chapter list, and more.
Apple revealed the first look at its all-new Music app for iPhone and iPad with the first beta release of iOS 8.4 today, which brings a new look to iTunes Radio among other major changes. Pandora Radio, the similarly-modeled music streaming service that’s arguably superior to iTunes Radio in music variety and selection, released a timely update this evening adding Apple Watch support to its iPhone app ahead of the new wearable device’s release on April 24th. Pandora Radio’s WatchKit app for Apple Watch will include a glance for swiping up from the watch face to identify the song currently playing from the iPhone app.
With the release of the first developer beta of iOS 8.4 this evening, Apple gave us the first look at the oft-rumored redesign of the Music app. With the expected announcement of Apple’s streaming music service happening in June, the Music app redesign has been expected for several months now. The newly introduced Music app offers a handful of new features in the first beta of iOS 8.4, as well as a redesigned interface that’s similar to iTunes on the Mac. Let’s take a brief look…
Apple has just released the first iOS 8.4 beta, which includes Apple’s upcoming revamped Music app. The seed for developers is available via the Apple Developer Center website.
Here are the release notes from Apple for the new app:
– All-New Design.Music app has a beautiful new design that makes exploring your music collection easier and more fun. Personalize playlists by adding your own image and description. Enjoy stunning pictures of your favorite artists in the Artists view. Start playing an album right from the album list. The music you love is never more than a tap away.
– Recently Added. Albums and playlists you’ve recently added are now at the top of your library, making it effortless to find something new to play. Simply tap play on the artwork to listen.
– Streamlined iTunes Radio. Discovering music with iTunes Radio is easier than ever. You can now quickly return to your favorite stations in Recently Played. Choose from a selection of hand-curated stations in Featured Stations, or start a new one from your favorite artist or song.
– New MiniPlayer. With the new MiniPlayer, you can see what’s playing and control playback while browsing your music collection. To open Now Playing, just tap on the MiniPlayer.
– Improved Now Playing. Now Playing has a stunning new design that showcases your album artwork the way it was meant to be. In addition, you can begin wirelessly streaming your music using AirPlay without leaving Now Playing.
– Up Next. It’s now simple to find out which songs from your library will play next — just tap the Up Next icon in Now Playing. You can even reorder, add, or skip songs whenever you like.
– Global Search. You can now search from anywhere in the Music app — just tap the magnifying glass. Search results are conveniently organized to help you quickly find that perfect song. You can even start an iTunes Radio station right from Search.
iOS 8.4’s Music application includes revamped search, the UpNext and MiniPlayer features from iTunes on the desktop, improved iTunes Radio functionality, a new Recently Added page, and more on top of the new design. On the iPad, there’s a new split-screen interface on the iPad, as seen in the screenshots below. On the iPhone, the landscape interface has been removed entirely. The icon for the app remains the same, however. We have a hands-on gallery of several more screenshots below:
Apple’s upcoming music streaming service comes at an interesting time in the industry. Jay-Z recently relaunched his own streaming music service dubbed Tidal, recruiting help from other A-list artists like Rhianna, Alicia Keys, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and Kanye West. There are existing services from Spotify, Beats, Google, and others. All of these offerings have their own pros and cons, but I’ve used them all and none of them accomplish streaming music perfectly. Apple now has the opportunity to take the best features of each service and offer its own competitive service.
I’m hoping that Apple incorporates the best of each existing subscription music service into its own upcoming music service. What are those key points? Let’s discuss…
I was an early adopter of digital music (you hide your surprise well). I bought my first mp3 player in 1998, some three years before the first iPod. It cost a silly amount of money and stored exactly one album at a time in its 64MB (not GB) of flash memory.
Me being me, I went through a few different generations of mp3 player before Apple completely changed the game with the iPod. Ironically, by adopting a less sophisticated technology–a hard drive in place of flash memory–Apple created a far better product. One that allowed us to carry around 80 albums at a time. I bought one the day it went on sale, having by then finished ripping all my CDs to mp3.
When the 160GB iPod came out in 2007, I again bought one immediately. That was large enough to hold my entire music collection at the time. I not only carried it everywhere with me, I also plugged it into my hifi at home and to the AUX socket of my car stereo. At which point, I started wondering why I still had a wall full of CDs … Expand Expanding Close
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