It's Amazing How Buggy Beats Music Is... Ruining the Great Service Beats Acquired

[MICHAELSD]

For a multi-billion company that has been acquired by Apple, it is amazing how buggy the Beats Music service is to the extent that the bugs ruin the experience. I'm only two days into the trial, and I've found listening difficult since the music typically pauses every ~30 seconds then either begins playing again on its own or requires me to click back to the browser window. Of course, this is in the web player but it is completely unacceptable that on a Mac the music loads then continuously pauses in every browser possible. Beyond that, I've also had issues with the web player not playing at all after re-logging in to test a different browser to see if it has the same issues. The iPhone app has been mostly fine, although I did find the music to pause on AirPlay more often than it does in other apps. This, all on a 100mbps connection.

To its credit, the interface and sound quality are some of the better in the streaming industry but the experience is broken. Ironically tbe service Beats acquired, MOG, was nowhere near as glitchy and was my favorite streaming service. Still have yet to find the perfect streaming service now, but MOG was superior to Beats... Apple should've acquired that before Beats ruined it. The music recommendation feature is decent and the design is aesthetically-appealing regardless.

 

[yg17]

Shouldn't be a surprise given the fact that everything else Dr. Dre has ever produced is complete crap.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Shouldn't be a surprise given the fact that everything else Dr. Dre has ever produced is complete crap.

While I wouldn't quite phrase it as pithily and succinctly as you have done, I'll echo the sentiment. Completely.

Beats - unfortunately - are a depressing and dismal example of the triumph of spin, marketing and hype (along with a splash of style) over genuine quality or any sort of audio substance.

 

[charlesbronsen]

Shouldn't be a surprise given the fact that everything else Dr. Dre has ever produced is complete crap.

I don't like the headphones either but c'mon the guy is phenomenal producer

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I don't like the headphones either but c'mon the guy is phenomenal producer

'Phenomenal'? Ah, no, not really. Actually, I beg to differ.

But, highly commercially successful? Undeniably, (rather unfortunately).

 

[MICHAELSD]

'Phenomenal'? Ah, no, not really. Actually, I beg to differ.

But, highly commercially successful? Undeniably, (rather unfortunately).

Thankfully though, the Solo2 are said to sound as if they're from a different brand than the infamous Beats that have earned the company such a distaste in the audio community. Innerfidelity even placed it on their best headphones list, and genuinely seems to find it worth the money. Under Apple's ownership at least they are beginning to produce headphones that are worthy of their market share.

 

[Mr. McMac]

I wouldn't use or buy anything with the Beats brand name on them.

 

[mobilehaathi]

I wouldn't use or buy anything with the Beats brand name on them.

Yeah, the branding alone is reason enough not to buy them.

 

[eclipse01]

is beats music basically a poor mans Spotify?

 

[Mr. McMac]

Yeah, the branding alone is reason enough not to buy them.

Agreed. I generally don't like the kind of people the Beats brand attract. But then again I grew up in the 60's.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I wouldn't use or buy anything with the Beats brand name on them.

No, neither would I.

Yeah, the branding alone is reason enough not to buy them.

Agreed.

Agreed. I generally don't like the kind of people the Beats brand attract. But then again I grew up in the 60's.

Re Beats, the first issue is the branding (which is horribly and depressingly successful, as I'm sure we'll all agree), and which a number of us - those who describe ourselves as audiophiles - naturally enough deeply deplore.

However, my real concern is that this product has been so massively popular and enormously fashionable that it has managed to eclipse a great many other excellent audio products, to such an extent that a great many posters have never even heard of them, and are unaware of them. To a genuine audiophile, this is the real tragedy, not the marketing triumph of a company whose very product is a by-word for style over substance.

 

[MICHAELSD]

No, neither would I.



Agreed.



Re Beats, the first issue is the branding (which is horribly and successful, as I'm sure we'll all agree), and which a number of us - those who describe ourselves as audiophiles - naturally enough deeply deplore.

However, my real concern is that this product has been so massively popular and enormously fashionable that it has managed to eclipse a great many other excellent audio products, to such an extent that a great many posters have never even heard of them, and are unaware of them. To a genuine audiophile, this is the real tragedy, not the marketing triumph of a company whose very product is a by-word for style over substance.

It is a shame that the majority of people don't venture outside the brands at their local Best Buy (Bose is more of a crime than Beats), but I do have to hand it to Beats for accomplishing the branding and marketing goals that a major company like Sennheiser would've done if they could.

Recent reviews are beginning to state Beats is on its way to becoming an audiophile brand. I believe within five years all of Beats products will be quality, slightly over-priced audio gear. I am strongly considering a pair of Solo2 to go along with my Audio Technicas since the Solo2 is such an exciting headphone. I've been trying to find a headphone that surpasses its quality for the price for what I'm looking for (I don't need another flat reference pair now), but the Solo2 are scoring well.

 

[MICHAELSD]

More bugs in the web player: album artwork may not load for specific albums sporadically, instead displaying either a blank space or a Beats logo (despite the artwork being in the system).

Also, some albums' track listings may not load but when playing as a full album the album plays fine besides the aforementioned pauses.

Apple, you own this. How is it this unusable?

 

[NT1440]

More bugs in the web player: album artwork may not load for specific albums sporadically, instead displaying either a blank space or a Beats logo (despite the artwork being in the system).

Also, some albums' track listings may not load but when playing as a full album the album plays fine besides the aforementioned pauses.

Apple, you own this. How is it this unusable?

My guess is they're putting literally no effort into the existing Beats service, and instead focusing all their effort into the upcoming project.

Apple is known for letting products of companies they've purchased languish while they build what they wanted out of it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My guess is they're putting literally no effort into the existing Beats service, and instead focusing all their effort into the upcoming project.

Apple is known for letting products of companies they've purchased languish while they build what they wanted out of it.

Agreed.

However, while I'll not waste breath, (or words) defending Apple from the gushing and evangelical admiration of fanboys/fangirls, I have to say that this sort of commercial cannibalism is not confined to Apple; rather, it is very much a part of a (widely applauded) and much emulated version of modern capitalism (and comes with a commensurately aggressive vocabulary: 'asset-stripping', 'head-hunting' and so on).

 

[MICHAELSD]

My guess is they're putting literally no effort into the existing Beats service, and instead focusing all their effort into the upcoming project.

Apple is known for letting products of companies they've purchased languish while they build what they wanted out of it.

Besides the fact Beats did about $1.5billion worth of revenue last year, the Beats purchase makes little sense.

Maybe, just maybe it is becoming clearer now: Apple wanted to enter the audio space and wanted the company that already had the most marketshare so that they can then fine-tune their products.

 

[Roller]

I was a satisfied MOG subscriber for a couple of years before it was acquired by Beats. I dropped Beats after just a few days because of its poor UI and service.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Such a shame that the experience is unusable AND filled with bugs since I actually dig the interface and editorials.

 

[turtle777]

Might be the reason why it takes Apple so long to revamp Beats.

It's so crappy, they needed to start from scratch.

-t

 

[FieldingMellish]

I've been listening to a free version of Rhapsody offered through my TMobile service. So far, it works well and with no commercials on the iPhone. The daily commute is more interesting and immersive now.

 

[roadbloc]

Shouldn't be a surprise given the fact that everything else Dr. Dre has ever produced is complete crap.

Bit unfair. He's a good producer and rapper. Chances are, Dre had nothing to do with the making of Beats. He probably woke up one day and said "make me some headphones bitch." And thus his team made him some headphones.

 

[Meister]

Beat headphones are a rip-off. Everybody knows it, but rich kids buy them from their parents money anyway.

did not aquire beats for their headphones, but because they wanted the brand and the hype behind it.

In the future everything will move to the cloud and subsequentialy everything is moving to a subscription service - software, music, video, ...
wants to lead the way as usual and that is why they are using the beats brand to draw people to their service now, to establish a market dominance early. This is a great strategy and will keep overwhelmingly powerful.

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Such a shame that the experience is unusable AND filled with bugs since I actually dig the interface and editorials.

Image

Early adopter problems ...
will prevail as usual.

After what I have seen so far Cook seems to be a worthy heir to Steve's empire.

 

[MICHAELSD]

New bug to report: while playing a song, the same song restarted in the background at a low volume. It sounded cool, but still shouldn't happen. Still liking the service bugs notwithstanding .

After testing in the Store, Solo2 sound nowhere near as good as my ATH-700 which retail for less.