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Confused: is iTunes Radio gone, or is it now just called "Radio?"

Traverse

Traverse

macrumors 604
Original poster
Mar 11, 2013
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I only used Spotify and the free iTunes Radio to discover new songs and artists. There is still a radio tab in Music even when Apple Music is disabled.

Is there any difference between iTunes Radio and these new stations? Is iTunes Radio gone? Are these radios part of Apple Music?

Thanks
 
You can create radio stations

just search for example for Beck in the music app and it will say stations at the bottom and you can start Beck Radio or Loser radio
 
cmiller4642 said:
You can create radio stations

just search for example for Beck in the music app and it will say stations at the bottom and you can start Beck Radio or Loser radio
Click to expand...

Even without an Apple Music subscription?
 
iTunes Radio has been renamed to just Radio. You create a station by searching for a song, artist, etc. To the best of my understanding, everything under the Radio tab on iTunes/Music is free for all to enjoy, including Beats 1 and the curated stations.
 
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Dj64Mk7 said:
iTunes Radio has been renamed to just Radio. You create a station by searching for a song, artist, etc. To the best of my understanding, everything under the Radio tab on iTunes/Music is free for all to enjoy, including Beats 1 and the curated stations.
Click to expand...

+1

Also, all the custom radio stations that I created in iTunes Radio remain there in the new-fangled "Radio". Apple Music Radio is just iTunes Radio renamed plus Beats 1 as a new station. That's the way to think of it.

The thing that's better about Apple Music, and whether you call it a "Radio" feature or not is really just semantics, is this:

If you created "Billy Joel Radio" in iTunes Radio you'd get a custom station that played Billy Joel and a bunch of other artists with similar styles. Now when you just search on "Billy Joel", up will come the same ol' "Billy Joel Radio" but also you'll see things like "The Essential Billy Joel" and "Billy Joel for Beginners" which are (in effect) radio stations too but all they play are Billy Joel songs (no other artists) and they playlists are all curated by humans (so you get really good tracks and no filler).

To me, this is the best part of Apple Music's promise of "unifying" all these different apps. Just searching "Billy Joel" brings up a Pandora experience, a Spotify experience, and my personal iTunes Library experience all on the same search result, all on the same screen, each just a tap away.

BJ
 
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I can't create new stations. :/

Scratch that, it's just slow. But when I create a new station, Apple Music comes back active. :mad:
 
Traverse said:
I can't create new stations. :/

Scratch that, it's just slow. But when I create a new station, Apple Music comes back active. :mad:
Click to expand...

When you say ":apple: Music comes back active" what do you mean? Can you provide a pstep-by-steep of what you did or screenshots to help me better understand, please?
 
Dj64Mk7 said:
When you say ":apple: Music comes back active" what do you mean? Can you provide a pstep-by-steep of what you did or screenshots to help me better understand, please?
Click to expand...

I hid the "For You," "New," etc. sections of iTunes by going to Preferences and unchecking "Show Apple Music." When I create a new station, those sections return and I have to return to iTunes' preferences and uncheck that option.

I should have been more clear, but I was in hurry when I typed my post. My apologizes.
 
Traverse said:
I hid the "For You," "New," etc. sections of iTunes by going to Preferences and unchecking "Show Apple Music." When I create a new station, those sections return and I have to return to iTunes' preferences and uncheck that option.

I should have been more clear, but I was in hurry when I typed my post. My apologizes.
Click to expand...

This is a strange issue. I was able to reproduce it, however.

Here is what I found:
- Creating a new station from a song in the "My Music" tab (right-click > "New Station from Song/Artist") does NOT reactivate Apple Music/iCloud Music Library.
- Searching for a song in the search box (with the "Radio" tab-button selected in the drop-down) DOES reactivate Apple Music/iCloud Music Library.
- This is not a bug/glitch, because if you look back in Preferences after following the second scenario above actually ticks the checkbox next to "Show Apple Music."

I apologize in advance if I am just repeating info you already know. EDIT: bug report submitted, now just waiting for an action from dev team.
 
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Dj64Mk7 said:
This is a strange issue. I was able to reproduce it, however.

I apologize in advance if I am just repeating info you already know. I will be filing a bug report on radar shortly.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the feedback, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a bug with just my device. I'll file one too.
 
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