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

[McCool71]

Otherwise, Spotify still needs to offer proper AirPlay support!

I have to say that I have never heard any unwanted sounds when using Spotify, neither on my phone or desktop.

A better support for AirPlay would of course be welcome instead of just streaming the sound from the device, but I believe there might be some politics going on here. After all Spotify have their own Spotify Connect that works very well with supported devices, and much like Apple and other companies they of course prefer to tie the customer to their own services, making it harder to switch. As of today brands like Sony, Yamaha, Philips, Pioneer, Panasonic, Onkyo, NAD, LG, JBL, Denon, Cambridge, Bose, Bang & Olufsen, Argon and more have devices that support Spotify Connect. Source.

The main difference from AirPlay is that the music stream goes directly to the device you are controlling, and is not (like AirPlay) actually streamed from your phone. This makes a huge difference in battery life since the phone is more of a remote instead of something that has to stream everything all the time.

 

[Smearbrick]

Give me a streaming service and access to my iTunes library on any device (non-Apple) and I'm in!

 

[matthewhuk]

Oh my look at that screen shot of pre itunes 12, how I yearn for those good old days and not the pathetic, unusable hash that passes for itunes these days!

 

[Wanted797]

Would you rather hear iWatch, iPay, iBeats or iMusic?

Maybe something a little more creative than that. Beats is a decent name. iWatch is what I already head :rollseyes:

Maybe something like "M-Note" based on music notes or utilised the word Wave for sounds waves.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Not at all. It is the best streaming service by a huge margin today. And it is of course constantly evolving and improving; Spotify in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 are four very different experiences with huge steps forward for each iteration.

I get a feeling that those criticizing Spotify - and especially the interface - have not tried it for quite some time, if at all.

I don't see anything in iTunes today that is in any way providing a better experience than Spotify, so if Apple is going to improve on that part they have to radically rework it. And they probably won't do that.

I have used it quite a bit thanks to getting the buy one month and get two months free deals that I have used twice. My most recent subscription ran out on 4/30/15.

As I have said, I still prefer Rdio by a wide margin. Yes, if there wasn't Rdio, I would probably go with Spotify, but I wouldn't be an easy choice. The main upside to Spotify over the other services is that their Connect feature now works with their desktop app (Rdio had the feature long before Spotify).

I hope Apple adds this type of control when they integrate Beats Music into iTunes, but it remains to be seen. I won't be paying for Spotify again unless they integrate the many features that they are missing that are already in Rdio ( I mentioned several in a previous post). However, I might give Apple another look if they give a free trial...especially if the allow control from Siri and something like Remote to control desktop playback.

 

[oneshotpro]

Would never use Rdio again, as the actual music playing feature is useless. Start a station with a song, it will play a random song by that band and then 10-12 random songs by a band in the similar genre and then you *might* hear the song you originally wanted.

 

[the8thark]

I hope they name it Pong.

Andy Roddick would like that.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Would never use Rdio again, as the actual music playing feature is useless. Start a station with a song, it will play a random song by that band and then 10-12 random songs by a band in the similar genre and then you *might* hear the song you originally wanted.

If you want that song, you can just play the song and if you have AutoPlay turned on, it will automatically play similar songs.

 

[mobutt]

Probably won't switch over to this unless they have a student discount feature like spotify at 4.99/month.

 

[Antares]

I hope they name it Pong.

I think "Pong" is trademarked. Apple wouldn't legally be able to use that term.

 

[NOV]

Yes! iTunes now with even more bloat!

Exactly, as long as they don't make an overhaul to this terrible iTunes product (they turned it in a complete mess over the years) it is a useless exercise. Personally I don't care for Spotify either, too much hassle before I can hear some music. These days I turn to Youtube and with their Autoplay, they serve me with most of my music needs (besides the dreadful in between ads).

 

[thefourthpope]

I hope this doesn't happen, as iTunes is already overstuffed.

But, if it does, I hope Ive brings his minimalist sensibilities so I'm not stuck with some cluttered 2006 MySpace clone blaring music at me every time I load a page.

But mostly I hope this doesn't happen.

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Exactly, as long as they don't make an overhaul to this terrible iTunes product (they turned it in a complete mess over the years) it is a useless exercise. Personally I don't care for Spotify either, too much hassle before I can hear some music. These days I turn to Youtube and with their Autoplay, they serve me with most of my music needs (besides the dreadful in between ads).

I'm curious: what's the difference between the in between ads on YouTube and what spotify does?

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hamburger button

How have I made it to May of 2015 without knowing this term?!?

 

[GiovannyLira]

I'm a Spotify Premium subscriber and I think it's a great product. It's the most popular, most successful streaming music service. Why not use some of those billions to acquire the biggest player in the space, bake it into iOS / OSX, and be done with it? Am I missing something?

Anticompetitive practices and monopolistic behavior.

 

[macUser2007]

Spotify may cut ‘freemium’...

It looks like Apple rigged the music streaming market:

Spotify May Cut ‘Freemium’ to Three Months, Sources Say…

Spotify may soon be limiting its free, ad-supported access to just three months, instead of its open-ended, unlimited freemium access plan currently, according to multiple sources to Digital Music News.

The three-month ‘proposal,’ advanced most principally by major labels Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, would allow current, free-access, ad-supported (or ‘freemium’) subscribers to continue their plans for 6 months, while new users would be limited to three months only.

...

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2015/05/14/spotify-may-cut-freemium-to-three-months-sources-say

Yep, Apple will get sued, they will lose and be hit with a few million dollar fine. Which will be paid by the dumb money (the regular shareholders), while the management will get their bonuses.

But when the dust is settled, Apple will have destroyed the "freemium" music market, where it cannot compete, and will have kept a sizable market share of the paid one.

Congratulations, I guess.

(Although I'd like someone put in jail finally for market-busting like this.)

 

[oneshotpro]

tbh, with the way Apple has done business lately I've cut off all music purchases from them and won't use their new service. May consider switching from iPhone as well...shame really.

 

[Johnny Alien]

To all those complaining about the free service going away, please keep in mind that every time you stream songs for free on Spotify the artist is still getting paid. And since they are getting paid where do you think the money is coming from? From the paid subscribers. The service is set at $10 a month because Spotify needs their paid subscribers to subsidize their non-paying subscribers. And there are more non-payers than there are payers. I for one applaud going to a all paid system as it could potentially lead to both cheaper subscriptions and more money to the artists.

 

[edenbensal]

do you think that apple music streaming service will be available worldwide in launch?

 

[adamw]

Social media is a great tool. I am sure the music labels and artists will be using it to promote their brands and bands.