What exactly is Apple Music?
Jefferson Graham gets a closer look.
What exactly is Apple Music, anyway?
A lot of people left the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference wondering just that after Apple previewed its new music subscription and radio service Monday.
Is Apple Music, set to debut June 30, Apple’s answer to Spotify? Or Pandora? Is iTunes Radio, the service Apple launched in 2013 at the same conference, now dead?
After Apple made its case to the crowd at WWDC, several reviews were not kind:
One of the sloppiest debuts for any new product or service from the company,” said Business Insider. Apple Music is a major mess,” said Mashable.
Engadget said it “feels like a mish-mosh of disparate elements the company thinks we might want.” OK, so what is Apple Music? To answer these questions, Apple invited select journalists for private one-on-one time with the reconstituted app Monday. Under the usual Apple rules, photos, video, quotes and note taking were prohibited. So here’s what I can tell you:
On June 30, a new iOS software update will be available. Download it, and the new Apple Music tab will appear on the front screen of your iPhone.
The Red music tab on the front page of the iPhone will turn white. Open the music tab now and you’ll see your downloads, categorized by albums and songs, along with tabs for other features like iTunes Radio.
When the new Apple Music kicks in, the computer-generated iTunes Radio is gone, replaced by the human programmed Beats One Radio, a 24/7 free, curated, live radio station with celebrity DJs such as Zane Lowe. Like iTunes Radio, this service is free.
The iTunes library will be pushed into the background. Instead, you’ll see photos for albums you could be listening to as part of the $9.99 monthly Apple Music subscription service — something similar to the Beats Music service that launched in 2013 as a monthly offering with curated content. (The iTunes Store tab still resides on the front page, as a separate app.)
From a list of musical genres you tell Apple what you like. Once Apple Music gets to know you, it can suggest albums for you to listen to via the streaming service, curated radio stations based on your tastes or artists to follow via its Connect social network.
Despite the brickbats Monday, Apple could turn Apple Music into the world’s most popular music service. The market is there: There are about 70 million monthly listeners on Pandora Radio, and 15 million pay for Spotify.
Apple has a waiting audience of more than 700 million iPhone owners, digital real estate it can devote to its own app, as well as all those folks who walk into Apple Stores each day.
But from what we saw Monday, Apple has its work cut out.
What exactly is Apple Music, again?
Is iTunes Radio, the service Apple launched in 2013, now dead?