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Apple Close to Striking Deal with Record Labels for iRadio
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In all honesty I could care less about this service, particularly because it will no doubt be tied to Apple products only. I want a service that's multi-platform.
That being said I'm glad Apple are doing this because it'll put more competition the existing players to come up with even better deals
That being said I'm glad Apple are doing this because it'll put more competition the existing players to come up with even better deals
Magical
Did I really just read that the service will have "innovative" features like "jump back to the beginning of the song?" Really?
Did I really just read that the service will have "innovative" features like "jump back to the beginning of the song?" Really?
So you don't get to choose what you listen to?
I'm not sure if I'm missing something but how will this be better than listening to a normal radio station?
For me personally, I like to be in charge, finding my own specific tunes I would like to hear, combine records, tunes, into my own playlist. Of course I pay for the services so I don't hear any adds but the payment, about 10 euro's a month, is fine for me since you also get better quality as well...
Other thing about Apple that I considered to be a disadvantage is iTunes. I never liked iTunes due of it's restrictions towards different formats when playing video on it and the way the whole interface works. I find Spotify so much more appealing looking at the more user friendly interface and not to forget all the extra free add-ons. Not all of them are interesting, but I do like the plugin SoundDrop a lot and the way it works with third party recommendations like http://www.perfects.nl/perfect-mood-swings/ (Dutch) or even when you would like to sing along it offers a variety of plug-ins to hear the music together with the lyrics, even showing the right line in sync with the song. And last, but not least, the community behind it. You can share everything on facebook, even showing directly what you're listening, invite people over in a music room, let people / friends select songs to play where they all can listening to simultaneously.
I think, therefore, Apple is to 'late' and is fishing behind what's already hugely popular, offering a service that's not new at all (last FM, Pandora, Spotify) with a huge lack of options when comparing it to what these other formats has to offer.
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Answer: it's not
I guess if you like Springsteen, as example, it will give you the choice to listen to music like Springsteen, but that's basically it. The on;y 'new' aspect would be that if you hear a new song you can skip back to it's beginning to hear it all over, that could be handy when you jump in a streaming radio station...
But in Spotify, when using Sounddrop for example where all the people in the room can suggest music, OR when using a radio station option, that is exactly the same what Apple will bring out, you can directly select the song you're listening to and put it in your own playlist. With a payed account you can even download it to you smartphone for offline use.
Other thing about Apple that I considered to be a disadvantage is iTunes. I never liked iTunes due of it's restrictions towards different formats when playing video on it and the way the whole interface works. I find Spotify so much more appealing looking at the more user friendly interface and not to forget all the extra free add-ons. Not all of them are interesting, but I do like the plugin SoundDrop a lot and the way it works with third party recommendations like http://www.perfects.nl/perfect-mood-swings/ (Dutch) or even when you would like to sing along it offers a variety of plug-ins to hear the music together with the lyrics, even showing the right line in sync with the song. And last, but not least, the community behind it. You can share everything on facebook, even showing directly what you're listening, invite people over in a music room, let people / friends select songs to play where they all can listening to simultaneously.
I think, therefore, Apple is to 'late' and is fishing behind what's already hugely popular, offering a service that's not new at all (last FM, Pandora, Spotify) with a huge lack of options when comparing it to what these other formats has to offer.
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So you don't get to choose what you listen to?
I'm not sure if I'm missing something but how will this be better than listening to a normal radio station?
Answer: it's not
I guess if you like Springsteen, as example, it will give you the choice to listen to music like Springsteen, but that's basically it. The on;y 'new' aspect would be that if you hear a new song you can skip back to it's beginning to hear it all over, that could be handy when you jump in a streaming radio station...But in Spotify, when using Sounddrop for example where all the people in the room can suggest music, OR when using a radio station option, that is exactly the same what Apple will bring out, you can directly select the song you're listening to and put it in your own playlist. With a payed account you can even download it to you smartphone for offline use.
I use Spotify and find it excellent, I am sure that Apple will do a great job but the fact that I wont be able to use it on my Nexus 4 (I'm assuming that it won't be available to non Apple devices, particularly phones) as well as my MBP and iPad mini would somewhat hamstring the product for me.
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iTunes is another great product completely destroyed and let alone by Apple by successive stupides decisions, useless updates that work slower and removes useful features...
I'm really searching for an iTunes alternative so much they've screwed everything with iTunes 11
I'm really searching for an iTunes alternative so much they've screwed everything with iTunes 11
You're absolutely right for sure, but I just state that there is nothing new about Apple's concept here.
This exactly. I have a SiriusXM radio in my cars and the app for my phone. Been a sub since 2004. I honestly use no other streaming apps.
Decades and classic rock and alternative is what I listen to, old but without commercials.
This is simply to late and to dated. How could this be better in comparison to Spotify and Rdio where you can simply listen to which song you want, whenever you want in infinite amount of time?
I've never used Pandora (since it's blocked outside of US) but do people pay for it? It's basically a radio which caters to your choice of genre/artist, by playing similiar music, right?
I've never used Pandora (since it's blocked outside of US) but do people pay for it? It's basically a radio which caters to your choice of genre/artist, by playing similiar music, right?
If he did he's a little late. Should have done it 5-10 years earlier to save Steve Jobs.
Exactly. Tim Cook is old. Old like me. And old people don't have any fresh ideas. Just old re wrapped ideas made to look new. Apple needs much younger people at the top levels. Nobody older than 40. In some businesses, old is good to keep a company stable. However, in a tech business, youth keeps the company fresh and moving forward. Old people stagnate it.
I pay the $36/yr for Pandora for no ads and skipping songs. I'm always open to something new. I tried Spotify but didn't like the Facebook integration and the Premium service is way more expensive. Using Pandora, it's not uncommon for me to bookmark a song and later buy it on iTunes. It works for me... ;-)
The kind of "free" where the cost is included in the purchase price of iPhone / iPod / iPad / Mac, or possibly included in iTunes Match. In other words, no _visible_ cost for the end user, but definitely cost for Apple, and definitely money going to the record companies / artists.
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300 million users as soon as it ships, that should surpass Spotify.
Apple doesn't make money with iAds. iAds is for software developers to make money. Apple makes money by selling devices. They can give away lots of stuff for free, as long as it helps selling devices. Same as Google gives away stuff for free, as long as they get your personal information and make money showing you adverts. But "all the music for free and no adverts" works very fine for Apple, if that sells more devices.
We don't. However, making it free has the advantage that it will have tons of users (every single iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and Mac user can become a user instantly, that's a few hundred million), so Apple can negotiate excellent payment rates. And make money by selling more devices. Just as an example, they can sell you an iPod Touch, with twenty million songs available immediately.
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Either change your post, are add that you mean "300" and not "300 million".
No idea if Pandora is losing favor or not but you still can pick one song to listen to before it starts playing similar songs. I still enjoy Pandora because it's a great way to discover new music. I use it as background music. The only time I don't like it is when I've used up all my "skips" and it pushes out genuine crap. I turn it off at that point.
I could see that being a success but the source for this article claims it's not going to offer on-demand listening.
