Well, as a long time Spotify user, and even longer time Apple eco-system user, I was expecting my heartstrings to be tugging in two directions with the introduction of Apple Music. However, so far, I haven't seen anything in Apple Music that would take me away from Spotify. Maybe it's still too early, or maybe I'm too invested into Spotify with custom and curated playlists, but I seem myself canceling my Apple Music subscription before the end of the 3 month trial. Any other thoughts?
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Spotify Users: First impression of Apple Music?
- Thread starter hazeof3dd
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I'm definitely the exact opposite. I've been a Spotify subscriber for almost 3 years now and have loved it. But I've now cancelled my Spotify subscription. Apple Music basically has everything I was hoping Spotify would eventually add. It's WAY more robust - there's so much here to explore... which I guess is a negative for some people, as I've seen quite a few reviews calling it confusing - I really don't find it confusing at all. Plus the option to completely customize streaming music that I save to my library - including metadata and even album artwork, is a huge, HUGE win for me. I'll be happy to have Spotify around for their free tier still in case I'm ever just looking to switch it up, but Apple Music is definitely going to be my music home from here on out.
I have had the same experience, and the same feelings as mdewater. Aside from a few niggles, the interface is wonderful, and though Spotify had improved somewhat in that regard recently, it remained green on black, which is never going to look great.
But the biggest thing, that I wasn't even expecting, was how Apple Music made me eager to discover new music, and delighted when curated offerings gave a solid listening experience. As others have said on this forum, I discovered new music (that I actually enjoyed) at a much faster rate than with Spotify. And through a combination of delivery methods, too: the For You tab, Beats 1, curated playlists etc.
Some people have said that it's pompous to suggest this but, there has definitely been a shift towards music being seen as disposable and of little consequence, which services like YouTube and Spotify (free) have contributed to. Apple Music genuinely offers a good deal for artists, but perhaps more importantly to securing customers for Apple Music, it seems to have a respect for the art it is curating and presenting, like any other storefront should, and which Apple do so well.
I have seen some suggest that Spotify is a better service for people who know what music they want to listen to. That, to me, is not the promise of a streaming service – it's got to move beyond that – leveraging the asset of a huge library of music to offer customers an experience. Apple Music does this. Spotify does not.
But the biggest thing, that I wasn't even expecting, was how Apple Music made me eager to discover new music, and delighted when curated offerings gave a solid listening experience. As others have said on this forum, I discovered new music (that I actually enjoyed) at a much faster rate than with Spotify. And through a combination of delivery methods, too: the For You tab, Beats 1, curated playlists etc.
Some people have said that it's pompous to suggest this but, there has definitely been a shift towards music being seen as disposable and of little consequence, which services like YouTube and Spotify (free) have contributed to. Apple Music genuinely offers a good deal for artists, but perhaps more importantly to securing customers for Apple Music, it seems to have a respect for the art it is curating and presenting, like any other storefront should, and which Apple do so well.
I have seen some suggest that Spotify is a better service for people who know what music they want to listen to. That, to me, is not the promise of a streaming service – it's got to move beyond that – leveraging the asset of a huge library of music to offer customers an experience. Apple Music does this. Spotify does not.
Agreed about Apple seeming to have a respect for the music. This is a direct carryover from Beats. The fact that almost every artist has playlists dedicated to them with short descriptions about that point in the artist's career for example. Or the Deep Cuts playlists that include B-sides?? You'd never in a million years see that stuff on Spotify.
First impression: "£9.99?!"
I'll stick with my £4.99 Spotify Student Premium account.
I'll stick with my £4.99 Spotify Student Premium account.
while I noticed apple music had some more music not available in spotify I found the experience not quite as good, connect as ping 2.0, for you tab is just basically the same as genius was (oh you bought a metal song? here's another metal band), what's new is basically what's new in pop / rap music. Beats 1 is just mtv radio rap/pop garbage, only rock songs I've heard are "safe" dad rock. I've switched off auto renew and turned off apple music and dumped the app back into a backpage folder.
Last night: "Oh cool, I like the balls."
Today: "How in the hell does this work and why in the hell can't I deal with playlists without shutting off authorization for a computer?"
Today: "How in the hell does this work and why in the hell can't I deal with playlists without shutting off authorization for a computer?"
I've used both Spotify and Beats music extensively for the past couple of years. We started with a subscription with Spotify, that my wife seems to like well enough, but I personally never warmed up to it. I think their UI's are terrible (although they have been improving) and I think their music discovery is in the same boat. Spotify has never, ever, suggested something to me that I've gone on to really like. Beats, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air, and I've come to use it as my first stop when I want something to listen to, as I am always greeted by a new rotating selection consisting of a mixture of old favorites, and new stuff I've never heard of. It's the difference between walking into Barnes and Noble and walking into a tiny specialty book store and just browsing. Where do you think you are more likely to pull something great off the shelf by chance? Since most of that has been built into Apple Music, I'm here to stay. Since I'm already used to iTunes and Beats, the interface is fairly understandable to me. Far better than the hodgepodge that has been Spotify, most of it stuck in about 2009 design-wise.
My first impression: utter disappointment. I wanted Apple to reinvent music streaming. Think Different, right? Nope.
It's just another streaming service but with a cluttered and confusing interface.
There are 3 things that I noticed that Spotify doesn't have that are really nice:
1) Videos (but thats coming soon to Spotify too).
2. On some of the artist pages is has a list of "Influencers" so you can see where they found their sound. That's pretty cool for digging deeper.
3. Siri integration... because trying to navigate your way around that interface while doing something else is next to impossible. LOL.
I'd like to cut them some slack on being version 1, but this is Apple. They revolutionized the music industry.
With Apple music it feels like they just said "Eh, f*&k it, just slap some new tabs on iTunes and call it a day".
I should add that I primarily listen to music at my desk and these complaints are with iTunes and the iPad versions (I haven't even bothered to put it on my phone yet so I can't comment on the iPhone app).
It's just another streaming service but with a cluttered and confusing interface.
There are 3 things that I noticed that Spotify doesn't have that are really nice:
1) Videos (but thats coming soon to Spotify too).
2. On some of the artist pages is has a list of "Influencers" so you can see where they found their sound. That's pretty cool for digging deeper.
3. Siri integration... because trying to navigate your way around that interface while doing something else is next to impossible. LOL.
I'd like to cut them some slack on being version 1, but this is Apple. They revolutionized the music industry.
With Apple music it feels like they just said "Eh, f*&k it, just slap some new tabs on iTunes and call it a day".
I should add that I primarily listen to music at my desk and these complaints are with iTunes and the iPad versions (I haven't even bothered to put it on my phone yet so I can't comment on the iPhone app).
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I'm a relatively new Spotify user, but I'm enjoying Apple Music more. It seems to be really buggy right now, but it looks more fleshed out. I like how integrated Apple Music is with Beats 1, which I've been listening to a lot. It's so easy to add songs to "my music" that I loved on Beats 1. I'll know more after the trial has concluded, but I can see myself switching, especially once the bugs have been squashed.
How are you customizing album artwork? And does it sync back to your phone?
One of my biggest issues is that Apple is applying bogus artwork to my phone, even though the correct art is in my iTunes.
My biggest disappointment so far is the playlists in Apple Music. I really dislike the fact that user playlists aren't searchable, and Apple's playlists are really lacking. I've noticed most of them are only about 12-25 songs. Why so short?
Also, many of the playlists in the For You section are "Intro to (artist I chose during setup)." If it's one of my favorite artists, I'm not looking for a playlist that's an introduction to them.
Also, many of the playlists in the For You section are "Intro to (artist I chose during setup)." If it's one of my favorite artists, I'm not looking for a playlist that's an introduction to them.
The main thing I liked better in Spotify is the interface.
But the music discovery is much better with Apple Music. 'For You' is accurate, Apple's playlists are great, and the radio stations have much better picks than Spotify's.
Beats 1 isn't for me so far. Every time I listen, it's hip-hop or dance, two genres I'm not a fan of. And this British woman talking about leaving a club at 4 am.
But the music discovery is much better with Apple Music. 'For You' is accurate, Apple's playlists are great, and the radio stations have much better picks than Spotify's.
Beats 1 isn't for me so far. Every time I listen, it's hip-hop or dance, two genres I'm not a fan of. And this British woman talking about leaving a club at 4 am.
Biggest problem at least for me is not able to select bitrate in which you could stream on apple music. Data plans arent affordable.
been a spotify user i know that you dont get all music, that said however i am finding apple music lacking. if i look on itunes and then search for an album on my iphone it wont find it, or half the album will be missing.
I assumed that i would have access to all off apples library?
I assumed that i would have access to all off apples library?
That's true but bit rate is lowered when on cellular. Agressive caching should help reduce bandwidth as well.
I'm pretty sure you don't have access to all of iTunes but it is still more than spotify.
I like the app a lot better and how it intergrates my existing music under one roof. I do miss viewing other users playlists. for example fav 90's songs etc ha you can't beat the 90's
After a couple of days of using Apple music, I can definitely say that I prefer Spotify for the time being. I'm going to keep my eye on Apple music, as I suspect after a few updates and time to sort out the bugs, it might improve.
The deal breaker for me has been two things. Firstly, too many songs are greyed out in certain albums, yet available in other albums. This is no more evident than in a popular album such as Aerosmith's "best of" album in which 8 out of 18 songs are greyed out and will not play.
Secondly, the playlists are very poor compared to Spotify's, and I can't even make up my own playlist to share amongst all my devices without great difficulty. This is a feature Spotify makes so easy.
The deal breaker for me has been two things. Firstly, too many songs are greyed out in certain albums, yet available in other albums. This is no more evident than in a popular album such as Aerosmith's "best of" album in which 8 out of 18 songs are greyed out and will not play.
Secondly, the playlists are very poor compared to Spotify's, and I can't even make up my own playlist to share amongst all my devices without great difficulty. This is a feature Spotify makes so easy.
What's the problem here? Add to Playlist, choose the playlist, and it shows up everywhere?
I set up a playlist on my desktop, which I cannot see at all on my iPhone or my MacBook.