this stinks. I used it at work so I don't need to fill my work computer with songs/mp3s
it was great for my wife who has the 16gb iPhone and can't fill it with too many songs so she used Apple's iTunes Radio free. I also loved it and it was great to "share" stations and find new music that after a while, I decided to just buy those songs so I'd have them "permanently"
I get it. Apple's iAds failed. Apple's iAds paid for the FREE iTunes Radio. Apple failed. Apple pushed iAds to the wayside and is giving the profits to those companies wishing to sell or be the point-person. And because Apple no longer gets those profits, they had to ditch the FREE service because at this point Apple isn't making any money. and so, to make money, Apple needs to PUSH AND SELL Apple MUSIC.
The reason I don't like paying for streaming radio is because, though i love the music, I usually use it as background "noise". Paid TV subscription si different as I am more focused on the program (albeit less now with using phone at the same time). I also don't use Netflix/Hulu since I am already paying a subscription service for Television.
We have great local radio stations and some have an App which is nice. I have used Spotify in the past but didn't like how on the Mac when i try to pause with my headphones, it-insitead-starts playing iTunes and now I have 2 songs playing at once. Apple Headphone controls work best with Apple stuff...it is just something I'll have to get used to now though.
I won't be paying for Apple Music anytime soon. I get the $10/mo is cheap. but it adds up and over time I will have paid more into the streaming and have less to "show" for it. if after 2 years I stopped paying for AM I have nothing. if I have paid $10 +/- for songs purchased then after 2 years i can stop and still have those songs.