POLL: Apple Music - Are you cancelling subscription?

[fanta88]

Yes. I think the UX/UI for AM is atrocious and not intuitive. It's easily the worst thing apple has designed in a long time.

Really, the big problem for me is the integration of my own music (iTunes) with the streaming catalog (Apple Music). I'm not opposed to that in principle, but the implementation of it has been really buggy for me (and for others).

 

[skiltrip]

In the final days of my trial I can now say without a doubt that I'm letting AM expire and sticking with Google Play Music. After some intentionally thorough training, Google 's "Listen Now" section has become pretty comparable to Apple's "For You" section.

I love Google's mood/time/etc radio stations (the stuff they got from Songza). They have gotten MUCH better as my tastes have sunk in to Google's brain. I have a few radio stations I've found, for working, and for going to sleep, that I have not being able to replicate on Apple Music.

I am happy Apple Music sort of lit a fire under my butt and got me to put the big three (including Spotify) through their paces. Spotify got dropped to third place pretty early on, though Discover Weekly helped it a little. Mostly though, Apple and Google had a knock down drag out battle this summer. Google emerged victorious.

We'll see what the future brings.

 

[jbachandouris]

Still haven't used it anymore than the last time I posted. So, no, still not continuing my subscription.

 

[navaira]

Today AM for the first time gave me a For You playlist that 1) wasn't composed of the songs I own and know, 2) wasn't offensive to my taste and 3) actually gave me insight into something I always thought I could like but somehow never got round to playing it.

Is it enough to keep AM? No. Does it show signs that it's getting somewhat better? Yes.

We might try my partner's Apple ID in, say, a year to see how it's going.

 

[Pagemakers]

Just cancelled my AM subscription. Back to Deezer.

Just a much music but uses an interface that has been built by an adult.

 

[SgtPepper12]

Yes, I cancel the subscription. It's not even a problem with Apple Music itself. I just noticed that it doesn't really pay. In the three months of Apple Music I maybe found about two or three new albums. That's just not enough to justify paying 10 bucks monthly. I guess my music listening habits are too old fashioned for the era of streaming. I don't like browsing through lots of new stuff that I'll probably forget about anyway. I like to keep a bunch of albums that I like listening to. Plus, there was a lot of frustration with the service, I guess those are bugs. Just really annoying stuff. I live in Germany, so it's a bad idea to rely on mobile internet. So what I do is, I make the songs available offline that I plan to listen to. However, that just doesn't work. I don't know what it is, but it just won't download the songs. Sometimes it just downloads one random song of the album, sometimes it's just in the download queue forever and nothing happens. I have no idea why that is. Also, sometimes the playback just stops for unknown reasons. It's stuff like that that really reminds me that it's actually a lot more convenient to just have the music in your library, as actual files.

 

[whsbuss]

Really don't understand all this. Since when does the main reason for subscribing to a streaming service is to discover new music? Mostly I listen to those songs I like added to my library. Every once in a while I start a new music search. Isn't THAT the main reason?

EDIT: Today I am actually doing a new music listen session. Reviewing the New and For You sections to see what's happening. If I find good stuff, in my iCML it will go. Then its back to enjoying what I like/found. Yeah, Apple Music.

 

[rd1981]

I left Spotify for Tidal, and Left Tidal for Apple Music. I'm staying with Apple Music mainly because I buy my music through iTunes. I also like listening to beats1; so having one application that does all of this works for me. I am missing the billboard playlists on Spotify though.

 

[npolly0212]

I just tried signing up or the free trial but It just keeps saying sign up for 9.99 subscription? On my manage account it shows the free trial though. I haven't looked at apple music or anything yet so will have to look up on google what it even gets me/does for me and whatnot

 

[S.B.G]

Like many others, I received my email from Apple warning me my free trial was ending soon. I tried the new music service for about two weeks and gave up on it. That's when I set my subscription to not auto-renew.

I stuck with Spotify, and last month signed up for the paid subscription to Spotify. That's where I am staying for the foreseeable future.

 

[Paradoxally]

I left Spotify for Tidal, and Left Tidal for Apple Music. I'm staying with Apple Music mainly because I buy my music through iTunes. I also like listening to beats1; so having one application that does all of this works for me. I am missing the billboard playlists on Spotify though.

Yep, that was my journey too. Tidal is a fantastic service, but too expensive and not personal enough.

Apple Music is confusing, but unriveled in music library and personalized playlists.

In summary (from my experience)

Spotify:

- mediocre UI (atrocious on desktop)
- best in class when it comes to playlists
- great for "moods" and time of day music
- good prices (especially for students)
- more apps (Android support)

Tidal:

- excellent sound quality
- very mediocre UI
- too expensive
- exclusive content

Apple Music

- exclusive content (e.g. streaming iTunes Festival)
- mediocre UI (too many buttons)
- great, personalized recommendations
- fantastic prices when it comes to family plans
- 3 month trial
- allows streaming of entire local music library (after fixing bugs manually)
- Taylor Swift!

Apple wins, and it's not close when it comes to being able to being able to listen to my music anywhere. Only Google Play offers this, but Google doesn't the other part of music well - the recommendations.

iTunes is bad but there's just so much content on AM that's its hard to switch to anything else after having tried it. The fact that I can listen to, for example, The Beatles, and then seamlessly stream something else from Apple's catalog - without changing apps - makes me keep the service.

 

[Tech198]

According to this :-

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...l-reminders-urging-users-to-renew-apple-music

it looks like Apple very well know of their stuff up approach to AM.

If Apple is emailing users to tell them to renew, that to me is not just a handy email...... why would they do email ? Apple music fans know the deadline....

This proves Apple is in the hole they started. I'm cancelled my AM, and am already in the long process of using external software to make them DRM free, which plays back as good as the Apple music ones too.. no quality loss.

However, i wondering weather i should pay for AM for a short period in the hope that as a paying customer, weather that would really make a difference ? Otherwise, i'm going to continue to run my course Hate to do this to Apple, but they asked for it.

 

[unobtainium]

Why I'm quitting Apple Music and going back to Spotify:

1. It is impossible to create new playlists on the fly. Let's say you find a great new song and want to create a new playlist. You have to exit out of the song or album, go to Playlists, click "Create New Playlist", then exit out of that, search for the song or album again, and THEN you can add it to the new playlist.

2. Spotify has a better library. Especially newer music from independent artists, are often missing from Apple Music but available on Spotify.

3. Spotify has a student plan ($4.99/mo.)

4. This is the biggest reason: APPLE WILL NEVER FIX ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS. They are so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so ridiculously slow to fix and update their web services, it's ridiculous. It's like they create a service, announce it to great fanfare, and then...pretty much abandon it for a year, until the next iteration of iOS? Sorry, but that's not going to work in the world of streaming services.

Edited to add a question: Who is in charge of this crap? Who should we blame for stuff like iTunes Match, Apple Music, Apple Maps, iCloud Drive, and all the other ridiculously mismanaged internet services from Apple? Is it Eddy Cue?

 

[Supermallet]

I actually contacted Apple to get them to cancel my sub early because I wanted to sign up for iTunes Match and use that instead of Apple Music. Obviously the two services are different but I didn't like the way AM was designed to integrate with iTunes purchases, and I had turned of iCloud Music Library as a result. In order to use iTunes Match now, you have to use iCML, and I was comfortable using it for Match only.

I immediately went back to Spotify and since I have a student discount, it's half the price of Apple Music for a more refined and mature service. It's not perfect by any means, it's ridiculous how many button presses I have to make to do even simple functions, but it's got a nice big catalog and it doesn't mess with my existing music in any way. I like having a divide between music I don't own and music that I do own.

 

[malih]

I have a handful of complaints about Apple Music but I'm willing to give it some more time, maybe until the end of this year because I see improvements with iOS 9, and I do enjoy discovering new music to listen to.

 

[fanta88]

Why I'm quitting Apple Music and going back to Spotify:

Edited to add a question: Who is in charge of this crap? Who should we blame for stuff like iTunes Match, Apple Music, Apple Maps, iCloud Drive, and all the other ridiculously mismanaged internet services from Apple? Is it Eddy Cue?

Ultimately yes, it's Eddy.

 

[jdillings]

I think Apple is reading the writing on the wall and is worried about a mass exodus of people whose trials are about to be over. I got both an email and an alert on my iPad from the Music app telling me to "Renew now." LOL....Apple is really getting desperate. Maybe if they actually fixed the app they could have turned those people into paying customers. As it stands now, I think most will go back to what they were using before.

 

[malih]

I think Apple is reading the writing on the wall and is worried about a mass exodus of people whose trials are about to be over. I got both an email and an alert on my iPad from the Music app telling me to "Renew now." LOL....Apple is really getting desperate. Maybe if they actually fixed the app they could have turned those people into paying customers. As it stands now, I think most will go back to what they were using before.

I don't know about that, cause I never got that email. Probably because I turned off auto-renewal after one month. Only just turned it back on yesterday.

So the email is probably for those people that never go into settings and manage their subscriptions?

 

[99turbo]

Service has some strong points. I like the ability to set up offline tracks. But cellular streaming is simply unusable. It seems to have started with iOS 9. Constant freezes, jumping tracks. Very distracting while running or driving.

So, for now it's back to Pandora or maybe Spotify.

I'm an Apple fan, but the experience is so un-Apple that I'm disappointed. Hope they eventually sort it out,but for now, it's far from worth it for me.

 

[navaira]

In order to use iTunes Match now, you have to use iCML, and I was comfortable using it for Match only.

WHAT. I have to use bloody iCloud for Match?! Well that seals the deal, no Match for me.

Forgot to ask. Do people who DIDN'T turn off automatic renewal get those pleading e-mails as well? Because if yes, they can serve as handy reminder to turn it off.

 

[Prabas]

Be sure to backup your music, because playlists, songs and things like that are only stored for a month. So if you'd like to re-subscribe later, none of your songs or playlists would still be there.

 

[roadbloc]

The free trial was fun but at the end of the day, I don't really need a streaming service and on the rare occasions I do, I'd rather have Spotify installed. It's faster, less bloated and works much better on my lousy internet connection.

 

[happycadaver]

I will keep my Spotify Premium subscription. AM is still in a very bad shape even if only used as an online streaming service.

 

[whsbuss]

Noticing that many of the AM leavers are from outside the US.

 

[Ludatyk]

Question.

I'm still under iTunes Match which my subscription ends later in the year, I've read plenty of articles regarding Apple Music using DRM when matching songs.

Now, if I end my iTunes Match subscription does my songs convert to DRM... Has the issue been addressed by Apple yet?