Apple's Upcoming Streaming Music Service to Incorporate Social Networking Tools for Artists

[McCool71]

SERIOUSLY. A broken down User Interface, better!

Please elaborate.

iTunes is a cluttered mess compared to how Spotify have looked the last couple of years. And the Ping screenshot in the article (which is hopefully not any indication of how the new features will look) is beyond horrendous - it looks like a badly designed web page from the late 90s.

 

[2010mini]

This is baked into the iTunes store already. It's just up to the artist to utilize it. An example of someone who does is Ed Sheeran.



It's a shame that is not fully utilized by apple. Glad to see this is the way they are going.

 

[daftpunker909]

If this service is superior to these other streaming services (which it probably will be for Apple users), I'm in.

Spotify is mediocre at best and has benefited greatly from a lack of competition thus far. Terrible UX, annoying teenage demographic ads every 15 minutes, etc.

You're obviously comparing apples to oranges. Instead of comparing itunes to the unpaid spotify service you should compared it to the paid premium service - and this one is great.

btw are you aware of all the paid services? I'm pretty sure that qualifies as competition Spotify is currently the best in the market and that is why they are successful and the others are not. You should really try to look beyond your blatant Apple bias - it could really make your life easier

 

[Michael Scrip]

Apple's new music service is said to let artists have landing pages within the music service to share track samples, photos, videos, and concert updates.

Apple already provides music samples.

But why not just link out to the artist's own website for photos, videos and tour dates?

This "new tool" seems like one extra thing the artists (or their teams) have to build and maintain.

 

[Noble Actual]

Bring Ping back 2015.

 

[TeamMojo]

Hopefully one can turn it off. Narcissism is pathetic and already rampant.

 

[Bot4Hire]

It's so sad what Apple has become.

Reminds me of the falling days of Microsoft.

At least Microsoft has OS 10 & 1app for all platforms. This will be the Next Big Thing.

 

[smorrissey]

Hopefully one can turn it off. Narcissism is pathetic and already rampant.

I AM the prettiest!

 

[diazj3]

Artists will also be able to share the content of other artists in an effort of cross-promotion. For example, all-gold Apple Watch wearer Kanye West could promote a new album from Taylor Swift on his "Apple Music" artist page, if he so chooses...

Funny double jab at Kanye West's legendary douchebagness... or jackassness, as Obama would officially put it...

cheers!

 

[meaning-matters]

Makes me wonder:
- Need all-gold Apple Watch for this?
- Is there a part-gold Apple Watch?

 

[Mak47]

The problem with Ping was that you couldn't share music with people--unless they bought it and it didn't incorporate other social networks. Incorporating social sharing into a streaming service essentially gives users the ability to do that, provided that a large number of people actually use the service. However, if they limit sharing to iTunes accounts or Apple ID's--and exclude Facebook and Twitter, that's going to be a problem again. People need to be social where they're already social. Adding another network into the mix doesn't help.

I like that they're building a platform for artists, Jimmy Iovine alluded to that during one of his ReCode interviews. If artists can use the platform as a business tool, it will make streaming inherently more valuable. Hopefully they don't just limit this to major label artists though. It's the indie's that will benefit most from that level of interaction.

It's also likely considering Beats Music's acquisition of Topspin not long before the Apple buyout. Topspin lets artists build online stores that can be integrated into multiple platforms. They can sell vinyl, t-shirts, concert tickets...whatever.

This is absolutely key to making a streaming platform work for artists--which is really the key to making it work at all. Currently, what most streaming services pay out to content owners is ridiculously low. They're only going to wait for it to generate money for so long before they pull their content.

If an artist can generate revenue from streaming, interact with fans and have a storefront all within the same app--Apple could rule the industry again. Nobody else can build that, at least not quickly. Apple has the cash to offer more lucrative terms as well, if they wanted to get exclusive content that competitors can't offer. If they wanted to guarantee a penny per stream (double what most others pay) they could. They'd take a little bit of a hit initially, but would dominate in the long run.

Even if content is available through competitors, artists will steer fans to the platform that treats them best. This is an easy win for Apple, if they don't decide to screw it up.

 

[BigBeast]

every post will be "peep my mixtape fam"

Ey yo fam – peep my mixtape!

 

[allanfries]

Hope one can shut that feature off!

 

[Tech198]

So, this reminds me of a failure, coming back to haunt us.

Since Ping was kind of a failure.... this re-branded one is more like Ping (on steroids)

Super-Ping..

Lets see how long this one lasts.

 

[dumastudetto]

We do not need Ping 2.0!

People make fun of Ping. But it was a revolutionary in a lot of ways and introduced features that the rest of the industry ultimately copied and implemented in their own music services.

 

[Mums]

Image

I don't really want another social network. I have to contend with too many as it is.

 

[patent10021]

Yes you are missing the most important thing. Spotify don't want to sell itself. They want to be an individual company and they want to make their own money currently.

So, they don't want to be acquired to bigger company for now.

Now, tell me. Let's say you're super rich and can buy anything. But can you buy a thing that isn't on the market? Can you buy thing that the original owner don't want to sell? I guess not.

Yes you can actually. Happens all the time to public companies.

 

[Fzang]

Spotify is mediocre at best and has benefited greatly from a lack of competition thus far. Terrible UX, annoying teenage demographic ads every 15 minutes, etc.

Mediocre how? Explain.

I think it's great for music discovery and listening. Especially the layered layout on iOS and the hold-to-preview. The sound quality is also good, even at lower bitrates if you have little data or bad coverage.

And ads, what did you expect? You're not even paying.

 

[rctlr]

I just hope they don't get rid of iTunes Match with this new upcoming music subscription on the way. I have tons of music stored in the Match service.

I overloaded my Music Match account, and so I dropped it.
I need to find a solution to get all my music on my iPad. I hope this does the trick.

 

[hagar]

I tried streaming service Deezer and like it very much. Immediately, iTunes and the ios music app feel horribly outdated. I don't think any social media features will change that.

I also realised that technically, iTunes Match is really bad. When clicking Next in Deezer, the next song starts to play immediately. In iOS iTunes Match, nothing happens. Frequently, I need to tap play/pause multiple times. And don't get me started on missing artwork, horrible Genius suggestions, syncing issues, etc.

I moved on, and I'm not looking back. Music may be in Apple's DNA, as they love to say, but the reality is that they need to catch up really quickly to stay relevant in the music service business.

 

[x0vash0x]

Christ guys, did you even READ the article?

Users will reportedly be able to follow artists and comment on artist pages via iTunes accounts, but social networking profiles will not be available to general users. Artists will also have tools for cross-promotion.

How is this Ping 2.0? This is identical to how, as previous users have mentioned, Spotify handles artist information.

Personally, I HATE the social aspects of music services. I don't mind getting updates from artists about their new music and tour dates, but I don't care what my friends are listening to.

I want a MUSIC service, not a SOCIAL music service.

 

[Scottyltd]

WTF is Ping?

 

[hydr]

They frankenstein Ping but kill Aperture?
Hmkay...

Glassed Silver:mac

They lack what Jobs brought back. Focus. It´s willy-nilly, but the iPhone will keep them profitable for decades to come.

On hardware they got excellent focus.
On Software not.
Services are improving. But no focus on software is like a big hole in the ship. Tim Cook is now fiddling with the GPS navigation system of the ship.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Christ guys, did you even READ the article?

Users will reportedly be able to follow artists and comment on artist pages via iTunes accounts, but social networking profiles will not be available to general users. Artists will also have tools for cross-promotion.

How is this Ping 2.0? This is identical to how, as previous users have mentioned, Spotify handles artist information.

Thank you... I was gonna post the same thing.

This new service is for artists... not users.

 

[Imory]

If this service is superior to these other streaming services (which it probably will be for Apple users), I'm in.

Spotify is mediocre at best and has benefited greatly from a lack of competition thus far. Terrible UX, annoying teenage demographic ads every 15 minutes, etc.

Makes sense that they would target that audience since those are probably the people who listen to music the most while perhaps not having the money to pay for premium.