Apple Music New to Apple Music. Questions and first impressions.

[Populus]

Hello everyone!

As the title says, I’m new to Apple Music.

I’ve been using Spotify every now and then, for more than 10 years, because on Mac and iPad you can use it freely with ads. However, I never used it intensely. It was fine, and I hope they remain an alternative to Apple Music.

However, now that I have both my M2 iPad Pro and iPhone SE 3 on iOS 16.6.1, I decided to pull the trigger and use the 6 months that Apple gave me for free for the Beats Solo Pro I purchased three years ago. I hadn’t used it before, because 1) I preferred to use a well known service such as Spotify, 2) I was afraid my iPhone 8 on iOS 15 didn’t offer me the best experience, and 3) the fear of losing all the music I had transferred to iTunes Match, because as far as I know, when you add music from Apple Music to your library, you cannot keep it after the subscription ends (which is logical), and I don’t know if my previously matched music would be locked by Apple Music.

But I finally did it. I activated the free 6 months of Apple Music and I’m really amazed, by the audio quality, by the lyrics availability, by the karaoke mode, and by the suggestions. And of course, because of the super efficient native Music app. I can say that, overall, I prefer the experience Apple Music offers me.

Not everything is better than Spotify though. And that’s why I’m opening this thread: I’m finding the interface a bit confusing, especially on the iPad, maybe because I’m new to the service. Here are my doubts:

1) Once you search an artist, and select it, when you’re on the Artist page, you cannot search any song by the title. There’s not a search within the Artist page. You have to perform the search with both the artist and the title from the search page. Am I missing something?

2) When I want to add an album or song to my library, I touch the three dots and select the plus symbol “add to the library”. However, if we go to the bottom of that menu, I can see a heart symbol “I like it”. What does this do? At first I thought this was the way to save them on a favorites list, but I’m not sure such thing as favorites exist inside Apple Music.

3) Once you enter in an Album, some songs appear with an star right at the left of the track number. Is this something I did? See example below:

As you can see, the tracks #3 and #8 have a star. Does this mean I previously faved them? Or is it just that they are the most popular tracks from the album?

And finally, some songs are available on Dolby Atmos using my Beats Solo Pro, while others are just in Lossless format. I guess this doesn’t depend on any setting I can modify. I’m using Apple Music through a 5G connection, by the way, and I don’t like to download music, just listen to it from the cloud.

I have a Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby Digital 5.1 music equip, with an SPDIF optical connection, and I’ve tried to connect my iPad Pro through HDMI to my TV, and my TV connected by SPDIF to the music decoder. Is there any way I can take Dolby Digital or Pro Logic II out of this, or Dolby Atmos is an entirely different codec and needs a more modern decoder?

This is all for now.

Im really enjoying Apple Music btw, because I’m discovering more music tailored to my tastes more easily than I did with Spotify. I was a bit afraid because on the front page of Apple Music, here in Spain, is populated almost exclusively by raggaeton, trap and Latin pop, genres I absolutely dislike, but once Apple Music saw I enjoy singers such as Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, or pop/rock classics from the 80s and 90s, it is really putting music I didn’t know previously and I’m really enjoying! Can’t wait to listen to some progressive metal or K-pop to see what kind of music throws at my ears.

 

[BrianBaughn]

The stars are just some sort of indication of overall popularity…I think. They don't have anything to do with a user's account.

Refined searching on Apple Music is pretty much non-existent. I wish I could search better as well as have multiple tabs going (macOS).

The "I like it" thing is just going to use your selection as part of some sort of algorithmic processing to make recommendations to you.

 

[Populus]

Thank you Brian. I’m learning, little by little (that’s from Oasis, right?). I’m ready to open a new music discovery stage in my life, even if it’s at my 30s.

So far, I much prefer Apple Music over Spotify, mainly because its system integration, also because of the more appealing interface (white interface looks much cleaner than the black interface) and finally, and I’m not sure if this is placebo, I feel like it sounds better. I enabled Lossless on Apple Music settings, and on Spotify, being a free user, I didn’t have that option. Also, the suggestions Apple Music does are much better, much more on point with what I’ll end up liking, than Spotify’s.

So, while this 6 months last, I’m gonna keep enjoying Apple Music and, when the free trial expires, I’ll come back to Spotify to compare apples to kiwis. Sure, the ads can be annoying on Spotify but the ad-free tier I think is cheaper… we’ll see.

 

[Populus]

Wow, I still have four months and a half of free Apple Music, but I think I’ll renew the subscription once it expires… what I still don’t know is for how long. If I can gather a few family members and get a family subscription (up to 6 members, right?), it might be really cheap. But that’s of course if they still don’t have a family share group.

Simply put, I’m loving it. The music sounds fenomenal, I have the karaoke mode to sing along, and A LOT of music with a really good integration into the operating system.

If the family members, who aren’t as close as siblings or parents are (my cousin, his partner, etc) agree on joining Apple Music, Ill be super happy to pay a family subscription. Is it there a family anual sub?

I feel sorry for Spotify, it is true that I only used on the ad-based plan and, thus, the sound quality wasn’t as good as on the Premium plan, but, after years of using Spotify (and it being a great service) and one month with Apple Music, I’m really enjoying much more the latter.

Having the Favorites list on iOS 17.2 will be great, and it is really weird it wasn’t ready before. Strange.

Also: Apple Music Classical has finally -FINALLY- an iPad app.

 

[Populus]

I’m really enjoying Apple Music.
Damn, I’m afraid I won’t be able to get rid of this subscription once my 6-month free trial expires.

This song is really addictive, listening it on loop:

If there’s a thread to share cool music, or Apple Music links, let me know!

 

[aespana]

Hello Populus! I wanted to comment on this topic since last week but man, it have been a very busy week.

Talking about Apple Music, yeah, it is a good services with some good points and some bad points.

Good points for me:
- Audio quality of the music
- Interface. I don't know how there are some people that like more Spotify's interface over AM interface. AM reminds me iOS 6 Music app (before all this cloud thing) and really like that. Also, love how the albums are displayed on your screen.
- Some variations of the music that are not on Spotify. One example that comes to my mand are L.A. Woman album by The Doors which AM version included versions compared to Spotify's which is the normal release. Yeah, this is more a personal preference but i like those "alternative versions"

Bad points:
- Interface too. Meanwhile I like how the interface in general is, shuffle button for example shouldn't be inside playback list. Just put it outside like spotify and we are good
- Adding music with the gesture is really buggy. At least we have not the super big pop up of Added to library like before
- Music app on Mac is just ****. Absolutly ****. I use iTunes installed from Retroactive on my Mac with Catalina which also aloows me to add my local files and then, listen to that music on my phone thanks to iTunes Match.
- Suggestions are bad. I think AM is more a personal taste without suggestions than Spotify

I'm exactly in the same situation as you. I got 5 months free thanks to PS5 promo and at this point, I'm really enyoing the service. Let's see how this goes but for now, it goes really well.

 

[Populus]

Hello Populus! I wanted to comment on this topic since last week but man, it have been a very busy week.

Talking about Apple Music, yeah, it is a good services with some good points and some bad points.

Good points for me:
- Audio quality of the music
- Interface. I don't know how there are some people that like more Spotify's interface over AM interface. AM reminds me iOS 6 Music app (before all this cloud thing) and really like that. Also, love how the albums are displayed on your screen.
- Some variations of the music that are not on Spotify. One example that comes to my mand are L.A. Woman album by The Doors which AM version included versions compared to Spotify's which is the normal release. Yeah, this is more a personal preference but i like those "alternative versions"

Bad points:
- Interface too. Meanwhile I like how the interface in general is, shuffle button for example shouldn't be inside playback list. Just put it outside like spotify and we are good
- Adding music with the gesture is really buggy. At least we have not the super big pop up of Added to library like before
- Music app on Mac is just ****. Absolutly ****. I use iTunes installed from Retroactive on my Mac with Catalina which also aloows me to add my local files and then, listen to that music on my phone thanks to iTunes Match.
- Suggestions are bad. I think AM is more a personal taste without suggestions than Spotify

I'm exactly in the same situation as you. I got 5 months free thanks to PS5 promo and at this point, I'm really enyoing the service. Let's see how this goes but for now, it goes really well.

Yeah, I still remember iTunes on the Mac, with both the list view, or the more recent album grid view. I liked the album grid view (where you pressed on an album to reveal the tracks). The music app on macOS needs a bit more of care, honestly. It kinda discourages to use the service.

I too use iTunes Match. Well, I used to, because it’s been a couple of years since I added the last album to the cloud service. At this point I’m considering downloading all my matched music and unsubscribe from the service. But I’m afraid of not being able to subscribe to it again.

 

[aespana]

Yeah, I still remember iTunes on the Mac, with both the list view, or the more recent album grid view. I liked the album grid view (where you pressed on an album to reveal the tracks). The music app on macOS needs a bit more of care, honestly. It kinda discourages to use the service.

I too use iTunes Match. Well, I used to, because it’s been a couple of years since I added the last album to the cloud service. At this point I’m considering downloading all my matched music and unsubscribe from the service. But I’m afraid of not being able to subscribe to it again.

Luckily the last version of iTunes (Mojave) still support AM so I use that version with retroactive. The Music App really need some care, really need it.

iTunes Match if Im not mistaken, it's already merged into AM. I use it to upload some of my discs which version is not in AM (like Vapor Trails by Rush which inly the Remix version is available which i don't like).

 

[Populus]

Luckily the last version of iTunes (Mojave) still support AM so I use that version with retroactive. The Music App really need some care, really need it.

iTunes Match if Im not mistaken, it's already merged into AM. I use it to upload some of my discs which version is not in AM (like Vapor Trails by Rush which inly the Remix version is available which i don't like).

Watch out! As far as I know (I could be mistaken), the match feature included on Apple Music is not equivalent to iTunes Match. iTunes Match allows you to match your tracks, update the quality, and download it DRM-free. With Apple Music, all matched tracks include DRM and once your subscription ends, you cannot listen to those tracks.

That’s why I keep paying for iTunes Match, and why I’d like to match all the albums I’ll ever care, even if I keep discovering music today, there are many albums (from Evanescence, Nightwish, Ayreon, Metallica, Lacuna Coil, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, Daft Punk, Pet Shop Boys… and the list goes on and on including more recent artists like Dua Lipa or Katy Perry) that I’d like to preserve secured on a hard drive, in case I’ll lose access to the Internet some day.

I could share the list here on the forum, or in this thread, to keep track of the albums I want to keep for ever, and match them before iTunes Match disappears.

Starting with many music from the 80s and 90s.

 

[aespana]

Watch out! As far as I know (I could be mistaken), the match feature included on Apple Music is not equivalent to iTunes Match. iTunes Match allows you to match your tracks, update the quality, and download it DRM-free. With Apple Music, all matched tracks include DRM and once your subscription ends, you cannot listen to those tracks.

That’s why I keep paying for iTunes Match, and why I’d like to match all the albums I’ll ever care, even if I keep discovering music today, there are many albums (from Evanescence, Nightwish, Ayreon, Metallica, Lacuna Coil, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, Daft Punk, Pet Shop Boys… and the list goes on and on including more recent artists like Dua Lipa or Katy Perry) that I’d like to preserve secured on a hard drive, in case I’ll lose access to the Internet some day.

I could share the list here on the forum, or in this thread, to keep track of the albums I want to keep for ever, and match them before iTunes Match disappears.

Starting with many music from the 80s and 90s.

Oh, didn't know that about iTunes Match. So yeah, it's a good service.

And of course! Share your music here! Specially if it is more like a rock/progressive rock hehe

 

[Populus]

Oh, didn't know that about iTunes Match. So yeah, it's a good service.

And of course! Share your music here! Specially if it is more like a rock/progressive rock hehe

Progressive rock? Or progressive metal?

AFAIK, those are two quite different genres. Progressive rock, or at least one of its first seeds, was born with an album from The Beatles, its original vinyl I’m lucky to have: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. From there, I’d say the most iconic progressive rock band is Pink Floyd. There are more recent bands such as Porcupine Tree that apparently play prog rock, but I haven’t listened to too much of their music.

Progressive metal, on the other hand, includes bands such as Dream Theater and Ayreon, and I really enjoy the genre. I’m a big fan honestly.

However, at the same time, I really enjoy commercial metal such as Evanescence or Linkin Park, commercial rock such as The Cranberries, electronic/dance/punk music such as Daft Punk, or just pure commercial pop like Dua Lipa, Sia or Lady Gaga.

I think I will make my list of “music to keep forever” here, eventually, and by then I will rename the thread title.

 

[aespana]

Progressive rock? Or progressive metal?

AFAIK, those are two quite different genres. Progressive rock, or at least one of its first seeds, was born with an album from The Beatles, its original vinyl I’m lucky to have: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. From there, I’d say the most iconic progressive rock band is Pink Floyd. There are more recent bands such as Porcupine Tree that apparently play prog rock, but I haven’t listened to too much of their music.

Progressive metal, on the other hand, includes bands such as Dream Theater and Ayreon, and I really enjoy the genre. I’m a big fan honestly.

However, at the same time, I really enjoy commercial metal such as Evanescence or Linkin Park, commercial rock such as The Cranberries, electronic/dance/punk music such as Daft Punk, or just pure commercial pop like Dua Lipa, Sia or Lady Gaga.

I think I will make my list of “music to keep forever” here, eventually, and by then I will rename the thread title.

I like Progressive Rock more. It is a little more relax than Metal but yeah, there are some good bands of Proggresive Metal. I listened some Dream Theater songs but not Ayreon, I will give them a shot.

For Progressive rock band than came to my mind: Rush (my fav), Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, The Mars Volta, Gentle Giant for a more deep less commercial band, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP). Also like some Jazz and another bands more commercial like Cold Play (first album is really nice), Red Hot.

I enjoy a lot videogame soundtracks. The Sims 1 soundtrack is brutal, Simcity 4 too. Death Stranding, The Last of Us, Battlefield 1. Ando since i like anime, i also like some of the opening/endings like the ending of Jujutsu Kaisen, soundtrack of Trigun and opening of the remake, etc.

I´m not as good as you with pure commercial pop. Maybe some song of Sia since I really like her voice. Lady Gaga is a great artist too, my brother love her and I also think that she have really nice songs but not for my daily listening

A lot of music to put in a post I guess xD.

 

[Populus]

I like Progressive Rock more. It is a little more relax than Metal but yeah, there are some good bands of Proggresive Metal. I listened some Dream Theater songs but not Ayreon, I will give them a shot.

For Progressive rock band than came to my mind: Rush (my fav), Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, The Mars Volta, Gentle Giant for a more deep less commercial band, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP). Also like some Jazz and another bands more commercial like Cold Play (first album is really nice), Red Hot.

I enjoy a lot videogame soundtracks. The Sims 1 soundtrack is brutal, Simcity 4 too. Death Stranding, The Last of Us, Battlefield 1. Ando since i like anime, i also like some of the opening/endings like the ending of Jujutsu Kaisen, soundtrack of Trigun and opening of the remake, etc.

I´m not as good as you with pure commercial pop. Maybe some song of Sia since I really like her voice. Lady Gaga is a great artist too, my brother love her and I also think that she have really nice songs but not for my daily listening

A lot of music to put in a post I guess xD.

The soundtrack of Death Stranding is monumental. Mostly composed of songs by Low Roar, and a couple by Silent Poets, it’s one of the best OST I’ve ever experienced on a videogame.

If you haven’t heard anything from Ayreon, I strongly recommend the album “The Human Equation”, if possible, from the first track to the last one in the same session, with the lyrics at reach. Basically, like many Ayreon works, it’s an album that tells a whole story (is that called “conceptual album”?), and for me, that’s the best one of them -and the first one I listened from them-.

 

[Populus]

I have to enter into the list view in order to toggle on the “repeat” play.

Really, Apple?

I think this should be changed in the next Apple Music overhaul, both the “repeat album”, “repeat track” and “random play” should be on the main playing screen, not just on the list view.

 

[Populus]

Okay, my 6 months trial is over… and I’ve kept the Apple Music subscription. Well done, Apple!

Now, I’d like to explore the social aspect of Apple Music as some people around me use iPhone. And I see a couple of integration levels:

- People who has my phone number or Apple ID can “see me” (whatever this means)

- I’ve also been assigned a username (@UserName) so that people can “follow me”…

Now, a couple of questions:

1) Are this two types of social implementations the same? Or are those two different social levels, with different privileges, on Apple Music?

2) Privacy concerns: well, as well as listening to my millennial music (R&B, electronic, pop, symphonic and prog metal), I also listen other content that I wouldn’t like others to see, such as guided meditations, binaural beats, or sex-time content. I’ve seen that if you enter you profile, you can hide those manually, one by one. But they will be displayed on my profile until I manually hide them… Is there any private mode on Apple Music, either on iOS 16 (my current version) or iOS 17?

Thank you.

 

[Helmsley]

Okay, my 6 months trial is over… and I’ve kept the Apple Music subscription. Well done, Apple!

Now, I’d like to explore the social aspect of Apple Music as some people around me use iPhone. And I see a couple of integration levels:

- People who has my phone number or Apple ID can “see me” (whatever this means)

- I’ve also been assigned a username (@UserName) so that people can “follow me”…

Now, a couple of questions:

1) Are this two types of social implementations the same? Or are those two different social levels, with different privileges, on Apple Music?

2) Privacy concerns: well, as well as listening to my millennial music (R&B, electronic, pop, symphonic and prog metal), I also listen other content that I wouldn’t like others to see, such as guided meditations, binaural beats, or sex-time content. I’ve seen that if you enter you profile, you can hide those manually, one by one. But they will be displayed on my profile until I manually hide them… Is there any private mode on Apple Music, either on iOS 16 (my current version) or iOS 17?

Thank you.

Glad to see you're loving Apple Music. For me, it's the sound quality I love. The UI could be better, but, it works for me.

If you're worried about privacy, just delete your profile. I can't really see the benefit of having a profile, anyway.

 

[Populus]

Glad to see you're loving Apple Music. For me, it's the sound quality I love. The UI could be better, but, it works for me.

If you're worried about privacy, just delete your profile. I can't really see the benefit of having a profile, anyway.

Hey! I love your profile picture. It would be awesome if it turned into black tones when switching to dark mode but anyways, it looks so classy.

Well, I wanted the profile just to let know friends and acquaintances what type of music I listen to, and for that, it would be great to have a private mode. Because aside from Daft Punk or The Weekend or Dua Lipa, I also listen to meditation tracks, binaural beats, and music for enhancing some private moments… Hopefully by iOS 18 or 19 they will add a private mode.

For Apple should be important to have this social features, as it encourages other iPhone users to subscribe to Apple Music rather than Spotify.