Apple Music first looks
- jun
- 30
Apple Music launches in just a few short hours but early pre-reviews are already going live. And so far, so good. Not everyone is convinced yet, but pretty much everyone seems to love the same human element that Apple has been saying is and will be key to the service.
Christina Warren, Mashable:
Much of the Apple Music experience really is Beats Music. And this is a good thing. I always thought Beats had the best discovery mechanism of the streaming services. With live radio, human curated playlists and access to your iTunes purchase history, I'm really liking Apple Music.
Jim Dalrymple, The Loop:
I'm damned impressed. Apple Music is a quality service, with the right mix of human curation and algorithms to help users figure out exactly what they want to hear.
I can only imagine that the service will only get better from here. The more I use it, like/dislike songs, the better it will know me.
Walt Mossberg, Recode:
My first impression of Apple Music is that it's the most full-featured streaming music app I've seen — and heard — and the first I'd consider paying for. But it may overwhelm some users, and I'll need to live with it more before I can reach final conclusions.
Ed Baig, USA Today:
Apple Music certainly looks visually appealing on the iPhone 6 Plus preloaded with the iOS update, especially the way Apple extracts the colors and themes from an album cover and displays it across the entire display, though it also took me awhile to get comfortable finding my way around--there's an awful lot packed into a section labeled New.
Jonathan Geller, BGR:
I find it very hard to believe regular people are going to go out of their way to subscribe to another streaming service after Apple Music launches. It's a game-changer.
Chris Davies, SlashGear:
With its competitive pricing - $9.99 for an individual user, or $14.99 for up to six connected through the same iCloud Family Account - and its privileged position on iOS devices, Apple Music has some advantages out of the gate. What much of its success will hinge on is the strength of that human curation, and its perceived value to listeners.
If its three month trial is sufficient to convince the ears that having people shaping playlists is delivering better mixes than an algorithm alone might, then rivals will have to raise their own game to compete. Otherwise, Apple is counting on users wanting to plunder the majority of its music catalog for a set monthly fee, and not being bothered to go comparison shopping across alternatives such as Spotify.
Apple Music launches later today with iOS 8.4 and iTunes 12.2.
