I see that the Apple Music streaming service should be unleashed on us at the end of this month and was wondering if anyone here is looking forward to it? Yes I know there are lots anti-Applers here but imagine there are some, like me, who are looking forward to trying the servive.
If they have got it right, with price and availability of songs, albums and artists then I’d imagine some of the ‘lesser’ streaming services will cease fairly quickly. Maybe even Spotify and Deezer may struggle………anyway time will tell.
Apple Music Streaming thing
Hmmm…not sure. I have such a bewildering range of music options open to me already – Spotify, Google Play, Deezer, iTunes Radio, the actual radio (via TuneIn), actual iTunes and my music library, Amazon Music, Soundcloud…it would make sense, sort of, to bring it all under one roof, but I’m suspicious of the whole Beats business.
Now I come to think of it, it depends on how they handle classical music. Sorry if this sounds elitist, but it’s always down at the Classic FM, 100 Greatest Classical Chillout Tunes level, top artist Johann Sebastian Bach, which infuriates me. If they bring a little respect to the whole thing, then maybe, but I’m not hopeful, Dr Dre and Jez Whatever not being known for their love of classical music.
Well the price is the same as Spotify, so where is the point in changing? I’m not a Taylor Swift fan.
To be honest I struggle to keep up with the music I have, and don’t get great use of my free Spotify subscription.
If Apple had not dropped some of the tv series I had bought (apparently I should have downloaded them and kept them on a hard drive if I wanted to watch them again) I might be more tempted, but deep down I don’t trust them. (and I love the kit).
I think streaming is the future (or even now) but I am not convinced that the winner in this game will be Apple. Bob Lefsetz had an April fool that Apple were going to buy Spotify. In fact they should have done – they have the money and it would have been a far better idea than Beats. Maybe they should buy Netflix?
Meanwhile Flixster/Ultraviolet is a car crash for movies. GooglePlay and Amazon music have interfaces designed to look good rather than be useful. And of course wifi/broadband availability is not yet universal enough for streaming to be knockout, but my son regards wifi in rather the same way I regard oxygen.
I don’t know what it will be like for users, but here’s an interesting article about why Apple are moving into this service. It’s not to make money necessarily but to add value to the iPhone. The headline sums it up “The entire music industry is just another feature of the iPhone”
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/9/8753939/the-iphone-is-about-to-change-the-media-industry-again
It also includes this fact, which I found astonishing:
“Music might never be a huge business for Apple — the entire US music business did $11.83 billion in revenue last year, less than Apple makes in profit every three months.”