While Pandora is admittedly popular with many, broadcast radio is a joke. Nobody who enjoys listening to commercial radio can claim to have any appreciation for or taste in music.
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Apple Targeting 100 Million Subscribers for Streaming Music Service
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While Pandora is admittedly popular with many, broadcast radio is a joke. Nobody who enjoys listening to commercial radio can claim to have any appreciation for or taste in music.
Three predictions for WWDC:
1. A pretty girl to run naked across the stage. Would liven things up a bit lol.
2. Tim Cook to make a broth. It should be fine, so long as there are no mirrors nearby.
3. Craig Federighi to sing a duet with Kylie Minogue 'Sealed with a Kiss' to celebrate the latest version of Mac OS 'X'.
1. A pretty girl to run naked across the stage. Would liven things up a bit lol.
2. Tim Cook to make a broth. It should be fine, so long as there are no mirrors nearby.
3. Craig Federighi to sing a duet with Kylie Minogue 'Sealed with a Kiss' to celebrate the latest version of Mac OS 'X'.
I feel exactly the same. I bought my first record in 1973 and have travelled the same journey through all the different formats.
iTunes Radio sucks. You're not missing anything. If you like listening to music programmed by the hit-obsessed recording industry, then check out Pandora. If you actually have some taste in music and want to listen to whatever you like, try Spotify or Rdio.
Someone fill me in on the difference between this and their existing Radio and a service like Spotify or Pandora? I have used them all and they are all more or less the same. You pick some music you like and it creates a streaming playlist of similar stuff. They are all free, some with ads radio with match subscription which is like $10 a year; i'll just call that free.
Figured as much. I wonder if Spotify / Rdio will react with offers, might be worth watching....
That's what everyone said the last three times a new Apple TV was postponed.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I'm not even convinced by the competition, I'm yet to be persuaded that renting music makes any sense.
I'm with you there. My take is that this is a solution in search of a problem. Sales of digital downloads in decline is being spun into "because the market wants streaming" does not seem like the only logical conclusion to me. I think digital downloads is feeling some pressure because digital doesn't degrade. People have converted their music collections to digital and filled in the gaps with some some singles from iTunes. Eventually, their collection is big enough to maintain pretty enjoyable variety in shuffle play. Since the music doesn't degrade, the drive to re-buy (the same music over and over) is gone.
When Junior leaves the nest, prior generations of him might have to re-buy some of Mommy & Daddy's music so they would have copies of stuff they liked. Now they just take Mommy & Daddy's collection with them. And Mommy & Daddy still has their collection too so they don't have to re-buy.
Another factor is the used CD market. A used CD ripped to iTunes captures the exact same quality songs as buying the CD new. But used CDs are so dirt cheap that one can often buy them for the cost of a single or two on iTunes. However, used CD sales don't count for new CD sales or digital download sales.
What's missing in answer to the "digital download sales decline" is new music the masses want to play. Where is the next Beatles, Stones, Zepp and so on? They may be lost in a sea of music that we can discover in a streaming music service for $10/month but there are so many cheap channels for a new Beatles to be discovered today. Where are they?
My own belief is that without the "re-buy" model, sales of music is simply maturing... and the solution is to bring new, GREAT music to market that everyone will want to own. Renting music as THE solution is much like McDonalds deciding the problem with their sales slide was that they had too many items on the menu. It sounds like something to do different but were customers at McDonald's not buying food because the menu had too many items on it?
I'm actually using Beats right now, which I think is rather good. Unless Apple shows off some much needed UI improvements later today, I'm not too keen on seeing Beats replaced. I have a strong suspicion that I will be moving back to Spotify or Rdio.
(Aside from the terrible usability, I can't stand the blinding white theme used by Apple's Music app.)
and a hundred million folks to spin the U2 record. - good luck apple - please don't SPAM me or FORCE this service on me.
Apple has an ambitious goal to sign up 100 million subscribers for its upcoming streaming music service known as Apple Music, according to The Associated Press. A subscriber base that large would trump competing services such as Spotify, Pandora, Deezer and others, which had a collective 41 million paid U.S. subscribers in 2014 per the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Apple Music is widely expected to be a rebranded and improved version of Beats Music, which the Cupertino-based company acquired for $3 billion last year alongside the Beats Electronics headphones and speakers division. The much-rumored streaming service will reportedly cost $10 per month, with a three-month free trial period, and focus on exclusive content and human curated playlists.
Beats Music had 303,000 U.S. subscribers as of December, trailing market leader Spotify's 4.7 million U.S. subscribers by a significant margin. Nevertheless, Apple previously said it has over 800 million users with iTunes accounts to its advantage and will reportedly present those users with the option to purchase an Apple Music subscription instead when downloading songs and albums through the iTunes Store.
Apple is expected to unveil its new streaming music service at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference today in San Francisco. During the opening keynote at 10 AM Pacific, CEO Tim Cook and other executives should reveal several details about the service alongside other announcements about iOS 9, OS X 10.11, Apple Pay and more. MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the event as it unfolds.
Article Link: Apple Targeting 100 Million Subscribers for Streaming Music Service
100 million sounds like a tall order.
Good luck with that one Apple.
I'm still waiting for a compelling reason to rent music instead of owning it.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Well, my opinion is just one opinion but for me anyway, I don't think you're missing much. I guess it's a good service maybe for those with no music in their own iTunes collection. It is free* and it does deliver music like it's in your own collection. However, if one has even 500 of their favorite songs in iTunes, shuffle can keep 500 songs sounding pretty fresh for a long time. Lots of us have thousands of songs in iTunes, which, again for me anyway, delivers the choice of listening to my own curated favorites vs. tuning into another kind of radio and hoping to hear something good.
The whole argument of "new music discovery" doesn't seem to resonate with me. I seem to discover new music to import into iTunes via other existing- and free- channels like friends & family recommendations, hearing songs in movies or tv shows, music videos, or traditional radio. Some argue that new music discovery via algorithms does help them find new music they like, so it appears these kinds of services are good fits for that kind of person.
Since when do skateboarders listen to hiphop?
Lupe Fiasco - Kick Push
Although, I don't think it's literally talking about skateboarding lol.
That will largely depend on what they offer in the music service. I have held off renewing my current subscription for now until after today's announcement. They need three things, Sonos Integration (for that matter, they should have the ability to play on all speakers), ability to incorporate my iTunes Library, and a great user UI experience.
I have my doubts, but remain hopeful.
I use iTunes Match and even without ads, I am not crazy about iTunes Radio.
I've used Pandora, but seem to get better playlists on Spotify.
I'm also cool with an advertisement every now and then. I DO NOT pay for streaming music, but I'm not opposed to it if the price and music selection is right. I like a lot of independent artists who don't often have digital products and, if they do, my streaming playlists won't have a wide selection.
(For a demographic reference, I'm 41 and like a very wide range of music.)
I use iTunes Match and even without ads, I am not crazy about iTunes Radio.
I've used Pandora, but seem to get better playlists on Spotify.
I'm also cool with an advertisement every now and then. I DO NOT pay for streaming music, but I'm not opposed to it if the price and music selection is right. I like a lot of independent artists who don't often have digital products and, if they do, my streaming playlists won't have a wide selection.
(For a demographic reference, I'm 41 and like a very wide range of music.)
Sorry but you've missed the real reason behind the polarization of Apple vs. other products. Every time Apple disrupts some company's business model or product line, that company's PR and rabid fanbase starts attacking Apple and ridiculing its users as "fan boys." This has happened with Windows, third party music players like the "Zune, and especially with Google/Android/Samsung. (i.e., computers, digital music players, smartphones.)
If the losers in these battles would remain content to just continue using their product of choice without mocking Apple and its customers, then we wouldn't have these polarizing arguments in the first place.
Incidentally, most Apple customers will concede that Google Maps has better data than Apple Maps. However, most of those same customers accept this tradeoff in exchange for a far better user interface and the protection of their personal information from Google.
If the streaming music service is embedded as a stock app in iOS9, 100 million subscribers should be reachable. A lot of people will give it a try simply because it's there and it has a 3 month trial. What people will do after the 3 month trial is a different story. It's a story made easier for Apple by having all the credit card information it has on customers.
My daughter will probably give it a try during the trial period. Afterwards, she will go back to Google Play All Access since it's piggybacked off my All Access account. She won't be paying for Apple's music service. Hopefully, Apple will bring something new to the table that forces the other services to step up their game. Better for everyone. If they bring a me too service with nothing new, besides money, what's the point.
My daughter will probably give it a try during the trial period. Afterwards, she will go back to Google Play All Access since it's piggybacked off my All Access account. She won't be paying for Apple's music service. Hopefully, Apple will bring something new to the table that forces the other services to step up their game. Better for everyone. If they bring a me too service with nothing new, besides money, what's the point.