DoctorRadio

I'm a die hard Apple fan and have had Apple only (macs) computers since 1988, but I have to say that the Apple Music 'developments' live me a bit cold. They just don't have the level, of control I need.

Aloysius

I've been using Apple Music since it started, so I thought I'd give it a report card on where I think it's succeeded or failed.

Music Library this works in a similar way to Google's 'music locker' (afaik); you have a library of music in the cloud that contains anything of the iTunes library you've added alongside any other music you have. The library can be accessed by any device and you can either stream the music on the device or download it to play locally - it works the same way whether it's a new release you've added from within Apple Music, something you bought from band camp, music ripped from your vinyl collection or whatever. I've found this to be really good, especially being able to put together playlists made up of music from many different sources. The implementation has been pretty buggy to start with unfortunately but has been getting better. Sound quality is reasonably good, with 256K AAC - at least better than mp3. (definitely certain instruments like trumpet that suffer from mp3 compression come out better with formats like AAC to my ears). It's definitely not audiophile quality, which isn't a problem for me as when it's quiet and I'm in the shed I tend to just listen to vinyl records, other times I'm always in a less than perfect acoustic environment like the car. Apple's library is pretty extensive and includes for example the Beatles' catalog, but there will inevitably be stuff you'll have to look for elsewhere.8/10

For You
This gives you an algorithmically generated list of albums and playlists you might like depending on what's already in your library and what you've hit the like button on in the past. I can see how this would be great for some people, but for me and probably most people here, it doesn't work that well. The algorithm isn't very smart - you can have the entire discography of a band in your library, and you'll get a suggestion for a playlist introducing you to that band. Or you might be a specialist in a particular music genre, and you'll get offered hints about the more obvious or commercial choices within that genre. I've heard some great stuff here, but overall someone like me (and probably you) will be very hard to please. 5/10

New This section really surprised me - I wasn't expecting much but it's one of my favourite parts of the whole interface. The layout feels a bit like a music store. After choosing a genre (there are 17 of them), there will be a carousel up the top of major new releases with brief descriptions, followed a much bigger list of new releases, featured playlists, and essential listening lists. You can play anything from the interface or add a bunch of stuff to your library to listen to later. The only sections I've spent a lot of time in are Classical, Metal, Jazz and World, of these only 'World' has been a bit lacking, the other three have been great. 9/10

Radio This has been better than I expected, although I haven't spent a lot of time listening to it. Zane Lowe's show isn't bad, and he plays some off the beaten track stuff. When Beats 1 went live of the first 10 tracks he played 7 were unsigned, to give some idea. Julie Adenuga plays London clubby stuff which can be good but often pretty commercial. Ebro Darden's stuff has been very commercial whenever I've listened to it. Of the other shows Soulection has been pretty good. You can listen to past shows at any time, and while listening add any tracks you like to your library or a playlist (as song as they are in the catalog). Overall though you (like me) are going to be very hard to please with any radio station designed with broad appeal in mind. 6/10

Connect Basically artists can post tracks, artwork etc and fans can comment. It has potential but doesn't work well so far - a band will post a photo of a live gig, there will be 500 comments saying stuff like "cool", and there's no real sense of back and forth between artists and their fans. 3/10

Playlists These can be pretty good. Most bands will have an 'intro to' for obvious choices, 'deep cuts' for less obvious choices, and 'inspired by' for artists who have been inspired by that band. Other acts have many more playlists associated with them. So for example if I search 'Swans' only 3 playlists come up, 'Sonic Youth' have 10 playlists, including their solo projects, their influences, etc. There are no user created playlists - this means that the quality is pretty consistent but I feel this puts Apple Music playlists at a real disadvantage compared to Spotify, where you can find some huge playlists for some pretty niche sub genres. A user can still export one of their own playlists for example to post on a blog, but there is no way to search this kind of playlist from within the interface. 7/10

Neapolitan

Browser cookies that junks up your computer or the kind you have with milk?

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Paul Smeenus

I might consider browser cookies with milk

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Gentle Giant Catalog Review

The entire Ditty Bops catalog reviewed

Goofle

I subscribed back to this a few weeks ago and damn, it's brilliant. I love how I can download the songs/albums/playlists and listen to them through my scrobbler app, and can manually delete the songs from my phone through the storage manager (both things I can't do when subbed to Spotify). And the playlists/suggested albums are awesome.

Only issue is that the iTunes app on PC is a bit bloated, but it is fine when you get used to it.

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Frownland

What do you mean by bloated? As in visually?

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Goofle

Bloated might not be the right word. It's just not easy to navigate. Never remembers where you were up to after clicking to go 'back' from a playlist or album page. So you have to scroll down again. Spotify is definitely sleeker.

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