Apple Music Partners. Where are they?

[ipedro]

Let me preface this by saying that I love Apple Music. With iTunes, I spent most of my time collecting and managing music that I never ended up listening to. Apple Music, on the other hand has taken away the pressure about deciding what music to buy and of managing and storing my music and it has developed a pretty good intuition about my musical taste. If I like a song, I simply listen to it more often or press the + button to add it to my collection and Apple Music continually learns about what I like. It's great. I've rekindled my love for music, of sitting in a chair just listening to new music.

Now, the obvious point is that Spotify does the same thing. With the exception of Siri integration, while both services do some things differently, the end result is pretty much the same. What Spotify has going for it that Apple Music does not are partners.

I can get in an Uber and the driver's Uber app plugged into his car stereo will have all my playlists. I can go into a Starbucks and the Spotify app on my phone will know what's playing. The President of the United States releases his Spotify playlists. Nearly every connected speaker on the market now supports Spotify out of the box. Apple has Sonos. Just Sonos — which also supports Spotify.

Where is Apple in all of this? They started the digital music revolution with iTunes a decade ago. Apple was all about music. They were cultural influencers. Now, they seem to have become trapped in themselves. Why doesn't Apple forge relationships? I'm sure speaker companies would be more than happy to claim both Spotify and Apple Music support. My Withings Aura alarm clock and Harman Kardon AirPlay speaker (also called Aura despite no relation) are fantastic. Apple sells and features both devices in their stores. They have no Apple Music connectivity. Both have full Spotify support.

If Apple wants Music to succeed and claim the throne like iTunes did for its entire existence, they need to make it ubiquitous. If not, then they're going to lose to Spotify and inevitably Google as they catch up.

 

[Brookzy]

The examples you mention raise privacy concerns that clash with Apple's ethos.

• Apple isn't going to be giving access to your music library to strangers (i.e. Uber drivers) any time soon.
• If Spotify knows what's playing in your local Starbucks, there is obviously some connection there between you, Spotify, and Starbucks. You can bet music isn't the only thing they're sharing. Starbucks is collecting data about your music tastes, your average visit time, when you visit, etc. etc. And if they're not, they're going to do it in the future. How long before they start pooling data and Spotify hits you with Starbucks marketing ads and emails? Advises when you should go to coincide with them playing a genre you like? It's creepy.
• The same applies to connected speakers. Who sees/collects what data?

I am sure Apple will overcome these hurdles and catch up eventually. I am glad they are proceeding with caution.

 

[M. Gustave]

Apple Music is 16 months old. Spotify is 10 years old. You can't expect the same level of third party integration. And as @Brookzy noted, there are privacy concerns with those sharing and data collection features.

And why anyone would want the playlist of a politician is beyond me.

For speakers, I only use Bluetooth with my phone as source. I don't want or need the actual speakers to be tied to any particular music service. I've personally never understood why Sonos exists.

 

[ipedro]

• Apple isn't going to be giving access to your music library to strangers (i.e. Uber drivers) any time soon.

That's not how it works. Uber drivers don't get to browse your Spotify library. What it does is enable your Spotify account to play your music through their phone which will already be connected to the car's stereo system.

• If Spotify knows what's playing in your local Starbucks, there is obviously some connection there between you, Spotify, and Starbucks. You can bet music isn't the only thing they're sharing. Starbucks is collecting data about your music tastes, your average visit time, when you visit, etc. etc. And if they're not, they're going to do it in the future. How long before they start pooling data and Spotify hits you with Starbucks marketing ads and emails? Advises when you should go to coincide with them playing a genre you like? It's creepy.

And again, that's not how it works. Spotify knows what's playing in all Starbucks at all time. Since you're a Spotify member, you get access to that playlist.

Nonetheless, Starbucks already knows plenty about its customers and when they visit. If you're a regular, then you have a Starbucks card because nobody wants to miss out on free stuff, specially if they spend money there often.

• The same applies to connected speakers. Who sees/collects what data?

Apple Music works through SONOS. If you're concerned about online connected speakers, then why give Apple a pass with SONOS?

Apple Music is 16 months old. Spotify is 10 years old. You can't expect the same level of third party integration.

So the 15 years of Apple dominating the music scene with iTunes counts for nothing? They just reset the clock and suddenly Apple is a music newbie? Apple has undeniably the most in depth relationships in the music industry, period. They also created and maintain the largest depository of developers in the world. The fact that they're missing out on leveraging them for innovative partnerships like Spotify has done with Uber (an app originally created for Apple's App Store) is what's baffling.

And why anyone would want the playlist of a politician is beyond me.

Whether you like him as President or not, he's also a cultural icon. He just is. And he has some pretty darn good musical taste. I mean, it was a minor inconvenience to replicate those playlists on Apple Music myself but what's worrying is the fact that they're letting these collaborations go by while the new kid on the block is kicking their ass.

For speakers, I only use Bluetooth with my phone as source. I don't want or need the actual speakers to be tied to any particular music service. I've personally never understood why Sonos exists.

It's a convenience of using another appliance to play your music in ways that Apple hadn't imagined. For example, my alarm clock can be set to wake me to a Spotify playlist. I cannot replicate that with Apple Music.

 

[M. Gustave]

...For example, my alarm clock can be set to wake me to a Spotify playlist. I cannot replicate that with Apple Music.

Yes, you can. In the Apple Clock app, Edit Alarm > Sounds > Pick A Song

 

[Brookzy]

That's not how it works. Uber drivers don't get to browse your Spotify library.

I see. You said they could access "all [your] playlists" so I thought that meant they had access to your library.

And again, that's not how it works. Spotify knows what's playing in all Starbucks at all time. Since you're a Spotify member, you get access to that playlist.

I'm sure there is some data sharing going on.

Apple Music works through SONOS. If you're concerned about online connected speakers, then why give Apple a pass with SONOS?

We'll see more connected speakers gain Apple Music compatibility eventually, I'm sure. But Apple's stance on these issues is slowing things. I remember when I set up Apple Music on my Sonos system it was very different to Spotify in terms of allowing access to your library, and how information from your library is accessible from different controllers (I'm not sure if that's changed since, I stopped using Sonos about six months ago).

So the 15 years of Apple dominating the music scene with iTunes counts for nothing?

To be fair, it counted for little enough that Apple had to buy Beats and not just grow their own streaming service!

 

[ipedro]

Yes, you can. In the Apple Clock app, Edit Alarm > Sounds > Pick A Song

A song isn't a playlist. Waking up to the same damn song every morning can get maddening. I swear that I've begun to hate Bruno Mars waking me up at 6am.

What I'd want is for my home to come to life in the morning, playing music that I love on my best speakers.

Spotify works with hardware manufacturers to make this possible. Apple seems to miss this point. It's kind of stunning that Spotify is completely kicking Apple's ass in the partnership department. Often, certain devices are better at what they do than what an Apple device which is trying to do many things. Having your music built into those devices has its advantages.

For example, my Withings Aura alarm clock knows the exact ideal moment to wake me up because it monitors my REM cycles and starts waking me up with light and sound right after I've ended REM. Because it has built in Spotify, it could wake me up to music that I love because Spotify knows my musical tastes. But nope, I can't use that feature because I'm an Apple Music subscriber and Apple is totally missing the boat on partnerships.

 

[M. Gustave]

I assume one song is enough to wake someone up, but ok... Are you saying the Spotify alarm shuffles the playlist every morning?

The real question is, since Spotify apparently does everything you want, and Apple Music doesn't, why don't you just use Spotify?

 

[ipedro]

I assume one song is enough to wake someone up, but ok... Are you saying the Spotify alarm shuffles the playlist every morning?

The real question is, since Spotify apparently does everything you want, and Apple Music doesn't, why don't you just use Spotify?

It's kind of interesting when people assume that everyone's lives are like their own. There's a lot more variety in the world than your unique case. I don't wake up to an alarm and hop out of bed and rush out of the house. I work from home and don't have a set schedule. I like to wake up to music and once I'm out of bed, I like to leave it playing as I get ready. I don't smash a button on a blaring alarm clock to shut it up. My day starts with lights that fade on accompanied by increasing volume in music and that carries me through my morning.

Many Spotify enabled speakers will play random music that it knows you love. With Apple Music, it's frustrating that all the music you love is trapped in an ecosystem that doesn't talk with other parts of your life. Spotify's partnerships free it to go with you everywhere.

But as I mentioned in the very first line of this thread, I love Apple Music. It works really well in learning my tastes and suggesting new music. I like its integration with Siri. In fact, Siri is how I use it almost exclusively. But the isolation from the rest of the world is becoming increasingly frustrating and apparent. I think that Apple is missing something important here. While Apple is focusing on conquering iOS and mac users, Spotify is working on establishing itself in all the places, services and 3rd party devices that those people interact with every day.