Apple May Be Producing Exclusive Apple Music Content In-House

[Arndroid]

Getting tired of listening to rap/hiphop on Beats One. Feels like the Beats execs have too much say on what is getting played and what will get produced. Would love Apple Music (and not only the "curated" playlists) to be more inclusive of all music genres.

I don't understand since you seem to interchangeably use beats1 and Apple music.

The hot lists and chart lists are based on popularity and rap/hip hop have dominated the charts for years now. However they have genre specific charts with listings that are very interesting. I don't assume you want apple to just hide what is popular because you don't like the genre that has dominated the charts for awhile do you?

Ironically if you look under the alternative link under new and soul, alternative had like 7 times as many listings and playlists.

Honestly I just assume you are complaining about beats 1 because your complaint doesn't track to apple music.

 

[Arndroid]

Remember this in 6-months to a year.

Yeah when half those services are running on fumes.

Worrying that every outlet is going to get exclusive deals with so many competitors is simply not how these things have ever worked out in business.

Plus part of the puzzle for the labels and artists is to make money, if AM and/or google music end up with a huge portion of the market (apple will have largest streaming subscriber base in the world in October) then artists and labels will not make deals with the smaller companies. Sure they might blow their wad once or twice but the smaller companies won't be able to afford to do it. Plus you miss out on selling actual music and getting streams.

If apple has 50 million subs by end of the year why would anyone take 250k plus video costs to be only on spotify? (I mean any act worth paying that money to)

Exclusive content will only be an issue with two big players after a while. Pretty much like every other market that uses that technique. And spotify won't be one of them.

 

[Arndroid]

they still dont understand how the internet works eh? "exclusive" doesnt last longer than 5 minutes, just look at those exlusives on tidal

Yes Apple and tidal are about the same

 

[Arndroid]

Exactly! It's worse than DRM. I will never rely on subscription services for the music I love. I need my own DRM-free files on my own hard drive. Otherwise you are at the mercy of the service to offer the content you want.

But you aren't at the mercy of your hard drive and backups

(For any music that predates iTunes )

 

[Jaylay114]

Anyone else sick of seeing Drake everywhere?

Nope.

 

[Arndroid]

I am so torn on this. Not that my opinion matters. But I can't help but think of Steve Jobs coming back to Apple when it was producing thirty or so different Macs and telling them to cut it down to four machines: two portable, two desktops, one for fun, one for work. It's almost as if they waited with baited breath for Steve to die so they could finally start making small iPads, big iPhones, laptops with one USB slot, Retina screens, non-Retina screens, re-introduce DRM, start a music streaming service etc. They are definitely thinking differently from Mr Jobs, that's for sure.

On the other hand I am totally excited about the M.I.A. video and the fact Janet Jackson is rumoured to curate a show on Beats One and you won't be able to unglue me from Apple Music when those two happen.

So you think they never talked about streaming when jobs was alive or that jobs only said over my dead body?

The reality is we are still in a development cycle that likely all began while jobs was still around.

 

[BPresh]

You've been reading this forum for years and you just joined because of what is being posted in this thread? With all of the other stuff that has been posted here for years this is what pushed you over the edge? Please.

Yes, that's exactly what I just said. I've been reading the forum for years, well before the Beats acquisition, and have been particularly annoyed with the ridiculous content of a number of posts ever since said Beats acquisition. I finally got to the point today where I was tired of reading (but not responding to) ill-informed and either uneducated or simple prejudiced posts.

 

[BPresh]

I don't think the people you attack above nor their views are embarrassing. If you don't like people's opinion, maybe the forum section isn't for you. Generally I may agree that calling out a style of music would be a low blow, but when you enter the content business, be prepared for this. If Apple entered the movie business and put out crap, I would say something just like I would if Pixar did (though only express an opinion to genres of my taste or knowledge)

That being said, when you attacked someone for disagreeing with Apple's strategic direction and indirectly allude to something, at least have the guts to say what you mean. You are implying that "white suburban nerds" are racist for not supporting beats and make the faulty assumption it's also because of their taste of music. And this confuses me because of Jimmy I! So it's unfair to judge Pat and say he has ulterior motives in his "so not my apple" comment.

Personally, I now dislike Tim and the direction he has gone. I'm sure you will tell me to get over myself and imply I'm being racist, but nothing can be further then the truth. I really am not impressed with Apple's products (Apple TV, Mac Mini, 12 mabook pro, Apple Watch, Ipad) and after being part of the Apple ecosystem for 10+ years, I'm dabbling with Android products as I am really like Google's innovation. While I love OSX, loved my macbooks (hated not have HDMI but that is another issue) and love my iphone, I see it's core business falling behind.

So lastly, if people express there opinion respectfully, it's fair game on this forum. So suck it up muffin!

Um, no. I don't need to "suck up" anything. It's the people I referred to that clearly need to suck it up. It's one thing, as you say, for someone to disagree with content direction. It's another entirely to decry an entire genre of music -- or simply anything you don't particularly care for, for whatever reason, as was clearly the case with "Freedom" above -- and say "THIS IS NO LONGER MY APPLE!" and that said music is "TRASH." I don't have any interest in calling you racist or even asking you to get over yourself. It's perfectly fine that you express that you dislike the direction Tim has taken. If you feel like Apple is ignoring their core business and you want to investigate Android options... cool, and I mean that. You're expressing your opinion in a respectful manner, and I respect that. However, the people I quoted above are NOT being respectful.

It isn't respectful to completely cast aside an entire genre of music and the individuals behind it and refer to ALL of it... not just individual songs, but all of it, and the artists behind it... as garbage and somehow "against" the culture of an entire company. That's ridiculous and embarrassing. If you can't see the difference behind your very rational concerns over Apple above and what those people wrote, I can't help you. You're making the case that you're concerned that Apple may be spreading itself too thin, and that perhaps Google is doing a better job in the tech sector right now. On the flip side, the people I called out above are making the case that Apple is no longer Apple because they've shown the slightest affinity for hip-hop music and the artists behind it, but that if they had only given more attention to non-hip-hop artists, oh okay, it's "our Apple" again. (Quotes used for emphasis in this case, and not to reflect that that was an exact phrase used previously.)

It's all very clear. Go back and read their posts again, please.

 

[ibjoshua]

So I guess Apple Records will get a cut? Was that a part of the settlement?

 

[navaira]

So you think they never talked about streaming when jobs was alive or that jobs only said over my dead body?

The reality is we are still in a development cycle that likely all began while jobs was still around.

The former. As for the development cycle, let me quote Mr Jobs:

I'd like to comment on the avalanche of tablets poised to enter the market in the coming months. First, it appears to be just a handful of credible entrants, not exactly an avalanche. Second, almost all of them use seven-inch screens as compared to iPad's near 10-inch screen. Let's start there. One naturally thinks that a seven-inch screen would offer 70% of the benefits of a 10-inch screen. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. The screen measurements are diagonal, so that a seven-inch screen is only 45% as large as iPad's 10-inch screen. You heard me right; just 45% as large.

If you take an iPad and hold it upright in portrait view and draw an imaginary horizontal line halfway down the screen, the screens on the seven-inch tablets are a bit smaller than the bottom half of the iPad display. This size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps in our opinion.

iPad Mini came out more or less a year after Jobs died.

 

[6836838]

Anyone else sick of seeing Drake everywhere?

No problems over on the premium platform here known as Spotify.

 

[ipadpro]

9.99$ per month and just listen 1 album new song of taylor swift - that not sound cheap to me -@

i wont purchase - just get free apps old way offline music - same thing and save $9.99

 

[sw1tcher]

While that is true, I think most people actually play those music videos on Youtube to be able to listen to the music instead of actually watching the music videos. So, my guess is that Gherkin is right. Although there might be still many many people actually watching music videos, my guess is that there are more people just "listening" to music videos. Youtube just happens to be a free site for videos that can be accessed from almost every device and is known by almost everybody. So, people looking for music, that don't own music themselves or have any music streaming service subscription, just hover to youtube to find their songs/music. The video coming altogether is just a plus and not important for most.

Although I believe they are mostly listened, rather than viewed. Youtube is still one of the most accessible ways to have music for free, and probably the most well-known. The actual video can be left on the background.

I'm aware many of the plays were from people who just wanted to listen to the song. But if "People don't really watch them or care about them anymore" as Gherkin suggests, then why would Facebook be seeking a music video licensing deal?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/b...to-seek-music-video-licensing-deals.html?_r=0

And why would Apple be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars (even though it's probably chump change with the billions they have) to produce exclusive video content?

 

[sw1tcher]

Indeed.

And since when was rap music?

Music, like art, can be subjective.

Parents/adults in the '50s said the same thing about Rock n Roll not being real music.

 

[unattributed]

I'm aware many of the plays were from people who just wanted to listen to the song. But if "People don't really watch them or care about them anymore" as Gherkin suggests, then why would Facebook be seeking a music video licensing deal?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/b...to-seek-music-video-licensing-deals.html?_r=0

And why would Apple be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars (even though it's probably chump change with the billions they have) to produce exclusive video content?

Because saying that "most people" are only listening to the songs on youtube, doesn't deny the fact that the "minority of people" that actually do watch the music videos are still many, many people. And when many, many people watch something, even if they don't make up the majority of people, it means there's a huge business potential to be accessed.
When 10000000 people click a song on youtube and only 20-30 % of these folks watch the clip, that's still an enormous momentum. In the end, it's about money. And that's why youtube, Apple Music and others urge into the music video business, but not because MOST people watch music videos.

 

[MH01]

Apple music ! The new music label taking over the industry..!!!

Anyone else remember when they made computer???

 

[scottsjack]

Yes I can see Apple's new fascination with diversity from the picture in the story, Black. Based on some of what I've found on satellite radio, Apple streaming and the purchase of Beats much of it will be filthy mouthed, anti-female and less than gay-friendly. Nice job old White guys Tim and Jony, keep trying to be cool or hip or whatever you call it. Have you planned on heavy Apple advertising for the zillion times that MTV will air "White People"?

Meanwhile the mini is less than exciting, the base mini and iMac models are a joke and there is no Mac tower for power-computing enthusiasts or pros. I don't know (and frankly don't care) if Steve was gay but Tim, you've really slapped it to him with Apple.v2015.

 

[prasand]

You see the real goal. The Apple TV Network!

I'm thinking along the lines of a Beats1 Apple TV channel. A lot of radio stations show video feeds of what goes on in the studio / station. Ebro Darden put up a video feed on his first day of Beats 1 because he's familiar with this because they do it at Hot97. To me, it makes sense that would be a next step in that arena. I haven't used an Apple TV since the release of Apple Music (got rid of it in anticipation of the New Apple TV release that never happened, lol) ... but I'm assuming Apple Music is on the Apple TV now. A Beats1 channel would be a sensible addition to the Apple Music culture being cultivated.

It's all very clear. Go back and read their posts again, please.

I think you're accurate in some sense, but you're also projecting and subjecting. There's obvious bias and indeed that can be perceived as racist, but doesn't mean it is. And I say this as a person who is the complexion of someone who would take it personally. Your passionate feelings reflect that you are subjecting. You are not wrong for that. But honestly, even if they indeed are racist ... they are not wrong for that either. People are entitled to feel how they want about groups, they are entitled to be closed-minded too. There's pros and cons to everything, even open-mindedness has its downsides.

That being said, before Apple Music launched I had a discussion with a black / latino rapper (named JUMZ) about the fact that Beats Music was "too black" and "too Hip-Hop inclined / biased". I said it because there were many genres that essentially had no footprint in Beats Music (particularly in that conversation I was speaking of Downtempo, Trip-Hop and Brazilian music). I said, that Apple would need to refine and expand the Beats Music algorithms to be more representative of the iTunes collection because Apple is a truly international company and they need to represent a wider range of musical styles in order to satisfy their global customers. -- When Apple Music was launched, I saw that they indeed refined and expanded the Beats algorithms and was quite happy about that. However, I think due to the direction of Beats ... Apple Music is being skewed to representing Hip-hop disproportionately. Perhaps, their rationale was to appeal to the various races by representing the range of colors in the black Pharrell, white Eminem, and medium Drake. But really they should've been appealing to the various races / cultures through genres instead of delaying the other genres. I am sure, Apple Music will eventually represent a range of genres via music videos, but I think they botched the initial strides.

In general I think Apple Music's initial strides were botched.

For example, why were developers given access to Apple Music a week after the public? I understand the desire to release Beats 1 to the world simultaneously and mitigate leaks, but there needed to be about 3-6 months of testing and refining the app so that the release was more polished. We didn't need deejays streaming for them to check the reliability of the connections, yet they were having connection problems even the day before the release (according to Zane Lowe's comments on Day 1, and the fact that the station went off-line for awhile after the Jaden Smith's Buffy the Vampire Slayer requests). Those things could've been ironed out, but the Apple Music team (not Apple) got ahead of themselves. In general such things are what happens in the music industry, as it's comprised mostly of people who feel passionately about what they do. In result, many do their jobs emotionally too. This is not wrong mind you. However, there are beta releases for a reason ... and the Apple Music team somehow managed to think that releasing a developer beta of Apple Music didn't make sense.

I think perhaps Tim's been hands-off with Apple Music, and he needs to be more involved. I don't care if he's playing The Village People's YMCA on repeat for an hour (couldn't help myself Tim, I've got nothing but love for ya *pounds fist to chest*), if it results in him putting his strategist mind to more proactive use on the team, so be it.

Ultimately, it's possible that they were being racist, it's possible that they weren't. But even if they were it doesn't mean their statements are invalid, and Apple Music would do well to consider them. Personally, I don't even remember the names of the people who made the statements. If you do, maybe you'd benefit from stepping back for a bit, because you're blindingly close.

 

[dav1dd]

Wow... Apple is really doubling down on contributing to the world's degeneration.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Music, like art, can be subjective.

Parents/adults in the '50s said the same thing about Rock n Roll not being real music.

What is rap?

Shouting insults over drums.

One form of hell would be being forced to listen to rap for eternity. Or even five seconds.

 

[prasand]

What is rap?

Shouting insults over drums.

One form of hell would be being forced to listen to rap for eternity. Or even five seconds.

I think similarly about Heavy Metal, which I perceive to be mostly noise. In both of our cases it's a matter of not being attuned or psychologically inclined. However, bias doesn't negate the reality that both genres are popular and music.

 

[BPresh]

Wow... Apple is really doubling down on contributing to the world's degeneration.

I was going to write a longer reply to prasand's very thoughtful (and appreciated!) post, but I'm starving and have to run to the store. In the interim, simply quoting the above will do to reinforce my original point.

Featuring hip-hop music is contributing to the world's degeneration, apparently. I'm not 100% sure what some people's deeper issues are in this thread, but rest assured, there are issues, and the above proves it. Ridiculous, emotionally-charged responses with sweeping generalizations... all because a tech company decides to include hip hop among featured music genres?

Truly bizarre. If you think Apple should tone down featuring hip-hop, I may disagree, but cool, I hear ya. But the kind of garbage being written above? Embarrassing.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Music, like art, can be subjective.

Parents/adults in the '50s said the same thing about Rock n Roll not being real music.

Rock has withstood the test of time thus far. It will be interesting to see where rap stands in 30 years and if people still listen to Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift 50 years from now.

 

[Ellmer]

Apple should NOT be holding on so closely to musically biassed partners like Pitchfork. These guys specifically have shown a consistent lack professionalism in the critical thinking of music. They rate the 'cool' bands highly, and the 'uncool' bands lowly. This would be fine if said bands were releasing music of poor production, lack of innovation, or general skill. But they're not. Pitchfork give them harsh reviews just because they feel like it.

The idea they're the ones curating playlists or anything regarding what they think people's tastes are is why I WON'T be using Apple Music after my trial ends.

 

[aront]

I've been reading MacRumors and the forums section for years now, and due to the absolute blithering xenophobic nonsense I've seen on DOZENS of occasions over the past couple weeks, I've had to register just to say this:

The way so many of you are acting is an embarrassment. One standout in this particular thread has been "Benjamin Frost," -- although there are others and I'm just using him as an initial example. Calling all three music videos Apple has released thus far "trash," for instance. I don't see where Em's video could be seen as particularly offensive aside from the fact it's hop-hop, a genre Frost clearly dislikes -- which is well within his right -- but also one he clearly has more deep-seeded issues about. More to the point, calling Pharrell's video "trash" is flat-out disturbing. While Frost may not like the sound, not only is it not offensive, not only is it not even hip-hop, it's a song and video promoting the issue of human rights. Why does Frost angrily lump it in with trash? I have my suspicions.

Meanwhile, this "anti-hip-hop" sentiment has been espoused in various different ways throughout the forum over the last weeks and ever since the Beats Music acquisition. Some literal statements have (give or take a word or so) have been "how DARE Apple align themselves with such people!" And then you have ill-informed, at best, whines such as "So when are they going to start showing love to something else? There is music besides hip-hop and rap." (Sorry Rogifan, I haven't seen enough of your posts to judge you overall, but that is ill-informed and reactionary). What is the complaint here? 2 out of the 3 main featured Beats1 DJs don't even show any preference for hip-hop/rap, and there is TONS of pop, electronica, and other genres represented. Also, even if Rogifan was only focusing on the music videos, it's a ridiculous statement. There's been, what, about ONE WEEK of elapsed time in which Apple has released their music videos? Even so, it's ALREADY been reported they are readying a music video by James Bay, a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Of course, with nary a logical thought and only to further his ridiculous anti-hip-hop (?) agenda, Benjamin Frost liked this comment.

And then we have the brilliant gem from Pat500000 above, "this is SO NOT LIKE APPLE," which the usual suspects have also liked. Look, whether you're Pat500000 above or anyone else espousing similar views... get over yourselves. Apple is not only for white suburban nerds, and I say that as a white suburban kid myself. If you don't like hip-hop, don't listen to it. But you need to accept that it's not only a good move from a creative/inclusive standpoint to feature it, it's also a smart business move.

If you're railing against Apple for things like Pharrell's "Freedom" video and screaming, "THIS ISN'T MY APPLE!!!," then you know what, you're right. Because your Apple is clearly some warped, ass-backwards company, and that's not what Apple is.

Quit embarrassing yourselves.

"We can no longer successfully defend Apple's new (screw the customers/profits first) direction, and Tim Cook's idiotic, indefensible company decisions. Quick, what do we do?"

"Call the critics racists! That oughta do it."