REVIEW: Apple Music

Apple Music just rolled out to the public and we will walk you through this new streaming service. 

Here’s Rappler’s Margie de Leon.

Apple Music is out and is just a download away for OS and IOS users.
It offers live radio, curated stations, and tons of recommendations… features already present in Spotify.
For many music lovers who are already on Spotify, what makes Apple Music different?
Music industry analyst Bob Lefsetz says it’s doomed to fail, and sums it up in two words: It’s toast.
He says Apple broke the number one rule of technology, that in order to succeed, you’ve got to deliver something better.
He says there’s nothing in Apple Music that isn’t widely available elsewhere, including its social network and playlists.

But Business Insider’s Matt Rosoff says Apple Music will make Spotify irrelevant with its built-in advantage in the Apple universe.
Spotify has 20 million paying subscribers, and 75 million active users, a user base it took 7 years to build.
He adds, Spotify “will have room to grow on Android, but on the iPhone? Forget it.”

We think Apple Music’s appeal will depend on the user.
We’re one of those who’ve been buying tracks on iTunes way before Spotify existed and the integration with our purchases simplifies our music consumption — eliminating the need to jump from Spotify to iTunes.
The hardest thing is migrating your playlist from Spotify to iTunes, and if you’re a busy person, you may just opt to not leave Spotify.
iTunes Store.
Where the song in your head becomes the song in your library.
We like the human-curated playlists as well as the spot-on recommendations for bands and albums.
There are exclusive artists, led by Taylor Swift who pulled out her music from Spotify last year over artist compensation.

It’s been said Apple’s user interface is a bit daunting, but millennials will find it easy enough to navigate.
As to Apple Connect, we wonder how many artists will support it?
Swift, Beyonce and Kanye are highly visible on Twitter, but not on Connect.
Many Third world country consumers prefer to go premium for offline access.
A Premium subscription on Spotify costs $9.99/month the same as a paid subscription on Apple Music.
Over-all, it’s an apples-to-apples war between the two streaming services, and so it boils down to readiness to shift your music trove and the convenience that move will give you.

Margie de Leon, Rappler, Manila – Rappler.com