iPhone XS Max + Apple Watch 4 LTE + Spotify or Apple Music

[iBought]

On Apple Music you will want to "love" and "dislike" songs (you can do albums too, but I usually just rate the songs as they play).

Even if you don't rate the song, Apple Music will consider whether you played it all the way through or skipped.

Eventually you can tell Siri, "Play something I will like" and she will start your personal radio station going.

Then you can tell her "Play more like this" if she finds a genre you really want to hear more of.

Also, "Never play this song again" is useful if you hate it.

As the songs are playing you can say "hey siri I love this song" or "hey siri I dislike this song" to rate.

Ok cool. I have never been that interactive with Spotify. I would grab songs I liked and add them to playlists and that was that. I don’t think I ever liked a song once. So I just have to learn the mechanics of this. I don’t mind it, especially if it helps me find new music that I enjoy.

 

[haruhiko]

I tried both and Spotify's playlist and music curation is much better than Apple Music which only gives me hip hop no matter what I 'liked'.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Ok cool. I have never been that interactive with Spotify. I would grab songs I liked and add them to playlists and that was that. I don’t think I ever liked a song once. So I just have to learn the mechanics of this. I don’t mind it, especially if it helps me find new music that I enjoy.

After a short time of "love"-ing and "dislike"-ing songs Apple Music got the hang of what I like overall.

One thing I have done is create a station based on a song, and then rate the songs for that station.
Later, I create a station based on another song (completely different genre) and rate the songs on that station.

By now I probably have 4 or 5 different stations based on different genres (jazz, latin, funk, Motown, etc..). When I tell Siri to "play something I will like" it randomly starts with something that might fit it on one of those stations, and I can tell her "Play more like this" or "Skip."

It winds up working really well in the car or other times I want to start music hands-free.

I will say that initially I felt Apple Music could have done a better job of working with my rated songs and albums in iTunes, since I had been rating music for at least 10 years in my iTunes library before Apple Music came out.

 

[iBought]

After a short time of "love"-ing and "dislike"-ing songs Apple Music got the hang of what I like overall.

One thing I have done is create a station based on a song, and then rate the songs for that station.
Later, I create a station based on another song (completely different genre) and rate the songs on that station.

By know I probably have 4 or 5 different stations based on different genres (jazz, latin, funk, Motown, etc..). When I tell Siri to "play something I will like" it randomly starts with something that might fit it on one of those stations, and I can tell her "Play more like this" or "Skip."

It winds up working really well in the car or other times I want to start music hands-free.

I will say that initially I felt Apple Music could have done a better job of working with my rated songs and albums in iTunes, since I had been rating music for at least 10 years in my iTunes library before Apple Music came out.

Ok I can do that. Honestly if I had not asked about it, I never would have figured this out. Spotify was set it and forget. Their algorithm did all this work for me. Of course, like I said, I know the workings behind it and why it did that because I worked with A&R reps who consulted with Spotify when it was in beta. Some people believe it’s all a myth, and I don’t have the time to debate that, plus it really doesn’t matter anyway.

Appreciate the help, I will do this now!

 

[0970373]

Ok I can do that. Honestly if I had not asked about it, I never would have figured this out. Spotify was set it and forget. Their algorithm did all this work for me. Of course, like I said, I know the workings behind it and why it did that because I worked with A&R reps who consulted with Spotify when it was in beta. Some people believe it’s all a myth, and I don’t have the time to debate that, plus it really doesn’t matter anyway.

Appreciate the help, I will do this now!

Yeah, Spotify is definitely for passive listening. Apple lets/makes you refine things but you have to spend time with it. It also feels like it has a little more focus on albums vs playlists. I'm ok w/ that. This article was interesting.

Explore the For You tab a little more. It took me a while to get used to how it was laid out but honestly, the Daily albums section is great.

 

[Mos Jeff]

I used Apple Music for a few years and really enjoyed it. I recently made the switch over the Spotify about 5 months ago for two reasons. The first being integration with Alexa. It really is convenient to be able to link Spotify as my primary music service with Alexa and control everything without having to connect my phone and use it as a Bluetooth speaker. The second reason was unique to my situation, but after a quick google search I realized many others had this same complaint. I have two young children and want to have the ability to create a "clean" playlist, containing all clean versions of songs I already have in my library, for when my kids are in the car with me. Unfortunately Apple Music will not let you do this and automatically changes the clean version to the explicit version. No matter what I tried I could not find a way to accomplish this. With Spotify I am able to do this with no issues. If AM ever changes and allows this I would probably come back.

 

[0970373]

I used Apple Music for a few years and really enjoyed it. I recently made the switch over the Spotify about 5 months ago for two reasons. The first being integration with Alexa. It really is convenient to be able to link Spotify as my primary music service with Alexa and control everything without having to connect my phone and use it as a Bluetooth speaker. The second reason was unique to my situation, but after a quick google search I realized many others had this same complaint. I have two young children and want to have the ability to create a "clean" playlist, containing all clean versions of songs I already have in my library, for when my kids are in the car with me. Unfortunately Apple Music will not let you do this and automatically changes the clean version to the explicit version. No matter what I tried I could not find a way to accomplish this. With Spotify I am able to do this with no issues. If AM ever changes and allows this I would probably come back.

In iTunes, Preferences > Restrict > Check "Music with Explicit Content" doesn't work? If you haven't done so already, you should send some feedback.

 

[Mos Jeff]

In iTunes, Preferences > Restrict > Check "Music with Explicit Content" doesn't work? If you haven't done so already, you should send some feedback.

Nope, I already tried that. I did a support chat with Apple and this is what he suggested. I have also sent in feedback quite a while ago. Since I have the explicit version in my library I also tried just adding the clean version to the playlist and not my library with no luck. Also found a suggestion to remove the explicit version, then add the clean version to the playlist, then re-add the explicit to my library, but that did not work either. It's honestly quite surprising that something that seems so simple can't be done.

 

[0970373]

Nope, I already tried that. I did a support chat with Apple and this is what he suggested. I have also sent in feedback quite a while ago. Since I have the explicit version in my library I also tried just adding the clean version to the playlist and not my library with no luck. Also found a suggestion to remove the explicit version, then add the clean version to the playlist, then re-add the explicit to my library, but that did not work either. It's honestly quite surprising that something that seems so simple can't be done.

That's quite odd. I helped my sister set up similar controls now that her son is old enough to have a device of his own. It works for them. Not that you want to spend a whole bunch of time since you found an alternative solution but I wonder if nuking your current iCloud Library (or just setting up a new Music account w/ no historical data) and starting over would help and setting the controls up form the beginning, only manually adding songs to upload if. It's missing from Apple Music.

 

[iBought]

Yeah, Spotify is definitely for passive listening. Apple lets/makes you refine things but you have to spend time with it. It also feels like it has a little more focus on albums vs playlists. I'm ok w/ that. This article was interesting.

Explore the For You tab a little more. It took me a while to get used to how it was laid out but honestly, the Daily albums section is great.

Yes, very interesting for sure. I much prefer playlists over albums, that is one reason I am working on building radio stations now and getting a good favorites playlist going. Only time I listen to albums is when I am winding down for the night.

My old job of finding bands turned me into a passive listener. It works because I was able to find songs that grabbed my attention. I was not actively listening for great songs, the great songs came to me. That is just how I listen to music and it served me well. When I hear a great song, I put it in a playlist, and now with AM I press love as well.

I will check out ther daily albums. I just have to work on making AM do what I want, but I think all the stuff I am doing now from all your posts will solve that.

 

[0970373]

Yes, very interesting for sure. I much prefer playlists over albums, that is one reason I am working on building radio stations now and getting a good favorites playlist going. Only time I listen to albums is when I am winding down for the night.

My old job of finding bands turned me into a passive listener. It works because I was able to find songs that grabbed my attention. I was not actively listening for great songs, the great songs came to me. That is just how I listen to music and it served me well. When I hear a great song, I put it in a playlist, and now with AM I press love as well.

I will check out ther daily albums. I just have to work on making AM do what I want, but I think all the stuff I am doing now from all your posts will solve that.

One more tip: Make some Genius playlists. It works much better now that it isn't restricted to what your physical library is. I've found a lot of new songs/artists I like this way.

 

[tromboneaholic]

One more tip: Make some Genius playlists. It works much better now that it isn't restricted to what your physical library is. I've found a lot of new songs/artists I like this way.

I haven't made one of those in years. I can it imagine being better now. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[0970373]

I haven't made one of those in years. I can it imagine being better now. Thanks for the suggestion.

I only rediscovered this a few weeks ago when I was doing something and had to go to File > Library and saw "Update Genius." I'm not sure why it's so hidden but I let it run and made some playlists off of songs I was listening to. It had some new stuff I hadn't heard and unearthed some songs I love but hadn't listened to in a long long time. haha.

 

[iBought]

One more tip: Make some Genius playlists. It works much better now that it isn't restricted to what your physical library is. I've found a lot of new songs/artists I like this way.

I only rediscovered this a few weeks ago when I was doing something and had to go to File > Library and saw "Update Genius." I'm not sure why it's so hidden but I let it run and made some playlists off of songs I was listening to. It had some new stuff I hadn't heard and unearthed some songs I love but hadn't listened to in a long long time. haha.

Ok I was able to get Genius to update in iTunes, but under Song Genius suggestions is grayed out still. I just really started using iTunes but it has inhaled all the songs I liked on my Apple music app so I'm wondering what else I need to do here.

 

[0970373]

Ok I was able to get Genius to update in iTunes, but under Song Genius suggestions is grayed out still. I just really started using iTunes but it has inhaled all the songs I liked on my Apple music app so I'm wondering what else I need to do here.

Genius isn't available for all songs so maybe that's why? Or just give it more time to learn since you've only just started to "train" it. Check again in a couple days or a week. Deep dive into the Apple Music playlist by genre or mood for now. Or radio.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Ok I was able to get Genius to update in iTunes, but under Song Genius suggestions is grayed out still. I just really started using iTunes but it has inhaled all the songs I liked on my Apple music app so I'm wondering what else I need to do here.

I just did this a little while ago, and I was a little rusty on the process.

The songs in my library were greyed out, so I restarted iTunes, and the songs were active (not gray).

if you select a song in your library, and then choose Song > Genius Suggestion, it should then show you a list of songs along with "Start Genius" which will play the songs.

However you can right click on the song itself in your library, and you should see a list with "Genius Suggestions" as a choice. It's a little quicker I think.

 

[iBought]

I just did this a little while ago, and I was a little rusty on the process.

The songs in my library were greyed out, so I restarted iTunes, and the songs were active (not gray).

if you select a song in your library, and then choose Song > Genius Suggestion, it should then show you a list of songs along with "start Genius" which will play the songs.

Right click on the song itself in your library, and you should see a list with "Genius Suggestions" as a choice. It's a little quicker I think.

Genius suggestion is still greyed out but that's ok, I'll give it some time.

I love listening to tunes in 24bit on AM on my PC. That's an advantage over spotify.

 

[matrix07]

One thing I have done is create a station based on a song, and then rate the songs for that station.
Later, I create a station based on another song (completely different genre) and rate the songs on that station.

By now I probably have 4 or 5 different stations based on different genres (jazz, latin, funk, Motown, etc..). When I tell Siri to "play something I will like" it randomly starts with something that might fit it on one of those stations, and I can tell her "Play more like this" or "Skip."

It winds up working really well in the car or other times I want to start music hands-free.

I will say that initially I felt Apple Music could have done a better job of working with my rated songs and albums in iTunes, since I had been rating music for at least 10 years in my iTunes library before Apple Music came out.

Hmm.. neat trick. This should work great with HomePod. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Hmm.. neat trick. This should work great with HomePod. Thanks for sharing it.

I had already set up my radio stations well before I got the HomePods, so I was already used to starting music like that in the car.

To be honest, it's easier to control them like that than to try and ask Siri for a specific song sometimes.

 

[matrix07]

I had already set up my radio stations well before I got the HomePods, so I was already used to starting music like that in the car.

To be honest, it's easier to control them like that than to try and ask Siri for a specific song sometimes.

Agree. It sounds easy to get songs one like.

 

[Mos Jeff]

That's quite odd. I helped my sister set up similar controls now that her son is old enough to have a device of his own. It works for them. Not that you want to spend a whole bunch of time since you found an alternative solution but I wonder if nuking your current iCloud Library (or just setting up a new Music account w/ no historical data) and starting over would help and setting the controls up form the beginning, only manually adding songs to upload if. It's missing from Apple Music.

How exactly did you set it up for your sister? With Spotify I literally just have a playlist with any music I'd want to play in the car when my kid's are there as well. Many of them are clean versions of songs I already have in my library. I would go back to AM if this were addressed so I can stay in the apple ecosystem, but I have yet to find a way to do it so I'm curious as to what you had setup.

 

[0970373]

How exactly did you set it up for your sister? With Spotify I literally just have a playlist with any music I'd want to play in the car when my kid's are there as well. Many of them are clean versions of songs I already have in my library. I would go back to AM if this were addressed so I can stay in the apple ecosystem, but I have yet to find a way to do it so I'm curious as to what you had setup.

Her son has his own device so I just set up Parental controls as usual. So he can't play explicit music but she can. She hasn't said that it doesn't work or anything. Sounds like you are trying to restrict specific playlists on yours which is a little bit different. Have you tried using ScreenTime to restrict explicit content on your device? It would obviously restrict all explicit content but the same process should work in iTunes, which seems to have failed you. If you uploaded a bunch of songs w/ explicit lyrics when you first started w/ Apple Music, that may be part of the problem/reason.

EDIT: I just tried the ScreenTime trick on my own device and all the songs marked "E" are greyed out. You need to do this on each device I think (there'a a sync to all devices option). This worked in iTunes also so I think there may be songs that aren't properly marked in your personal library if those are getting through.

 

[Mos Jeff]

Her son has his own device so I just set up Parental controls as usual. So he can't play explicit music but she can. She hasn't said that it doesn't work or anything. Sounds like you are trying to restrict specific playlists on yours which is a little bit different. Have you tried using ScreenTime to restrict explicit content on your device? It would obviously restrict all explicit content but the same process should work in iTunes, which seems to have failed you. If you uploaded a bunch of songs w/ explicit lyrics when you first started w/ Apple Music, that may be part of the problem/reason.

EDIT: I just tried the ScreenTime trick on my own device and all the songs marked "E" are greyed out. You need to do this on each device I think (there'a a sync to all devices option). This worked in iTunes also so I think there may be songs that aren't properly marked in your personal library if those are getting through.

The thing is I am not trying to restrict explicit content. This is for my own device, as my kids are not old enough to have their own. All I want to be able to do is have a playlist that includes clean versions of songs I already have in my library as explicit versions, but AM seems to recognize them as the same song and will only allow me to have one version.