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Spotify Users: First impression of Apple Music?
- Thread starter hazeof3dd
- Start date
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I dropped Spotify a while ago for Google Play Music all access which I think it a brilliant service and is clearly the inspiration for Apple Music IMO (combined owned and "rented" music in a single library for example). However, after a couple of days, I much prefer Apple Music and will definitely be continuing it beyond the trial
Yeah I did, on my all devices. Still not working. I don't think I'm alone in this, from what I gather on other posts.
I don't use Spotify 100% of the time. I'd say I use iTunes to play music I own about 90% of the time and then Spotify for the 10% of songs I don't yet own but want to play.
I have four main reasons for this.
1. iTunes has Airplay support baked in so I can stream over WiFi to my speakers.
2. I <3 the iTunes interface. It just looks great to me and always has done.
3. I use the iTunes Genius feature all the time, almost daily.
4. It integrates perfectly with my iPhone and iPad. I can ask Siri to play songs etc
So I still use spotify but I do it whilst feeling like it's a second rate player and I'm speaking specifically about the software application, not the music library. I feel that iTunes while having become a bit bloated over the years is still superior in UI design and features. Why Spotify still doesn't have built in Airplay support is beyond my comprehension when it supports so many other remote-speaker protocols like Sonos one.
So my impressions of Apple Music. The interface needs work, but it has the core feature I wanted, the ability to search for a song, artist or album and then just click a little + symbol to have those things go in to my main library mixed in with my own library in iTunes. That's literally all I wanted from Apple a way to pay x amount a month and get access to all the music I want and be able to put it in my main library where my purchased music lives.
And for me the service delivers. The curation feature is a bonus, it works well although it does recommend me many songs and albums that I already own, I feel they need more of a "discover" section that only shows you content you don't already have in your library.
The ability to start a station based on any song is great, I really like that feature it worked even better than the "For You" section in discovering artists and songs that I don't know of and don't own. It feels like the kind of thing you could call Genius+ because it works similar to Genius but uses the entire streaming library of 30 Million songs instead of just what's in your music library and I found it very accurate, 9 out of 10 songs I listened to yesterday I enjoyed.
Overall will I be paying £9.99 a month for this service come September 30th? I think I will and I already feel that way after just 36 hours with the service. I used it almost all day yesterday and I really enjoyed it.
I don't see myself using Spotify anymore.
I have four main reasons for this.
1. iTunes has Airplay support baked in so I can stream over WiFi to my speakers.
2. I <3 the iTunes interface. It just looks great to me and always has done.
3. I use the iTunes Genius feature all the time, almost daily.
4. It integrates perfectly with my iPhone and iPad. I can ask Siri to play songs etc
So I still use spotify but I do it whilst feeling like it's a second rate player and I'm speaking specifically about the software application, not the music library. I feel that iTunes while having become a bit bloated over the years is still superior in UI design and features. Why Spotify still doesn't have built in Airplay support is beyond my comprehension when it supports so many other remote-speaker protocols like Sonos one.
So my impressions of Apple Music. The interface needs work, but it has the core feature I wanted, the ability to search for a song, artist or album and then just click a little + symbol to have those things go in to my main library mixed in with my own library in iTunes. That's literally all I wanted from Apple a way to pay x amount a month and get access to all the music I want and be able to put it in my main library where my purchased music lives.
And for me the service delivers. The curation feature is a bonus, it works well although it does recommend me many songs and albums that I already own, I feel they need more of a "discover" section that only shows you content you don't already have in your library.
The ability to start a station based on any song is great, I really like that feature it worked even better than the "For You" section in discovering artists and songs that I don't know of and don't own. It feels like the kind of thing you could call Genius+ because it works similar to Genius but uses the entire streaming library of 30 Million songs instead of just what's in your music library and I found it very accurate, 9 out of 10 songs I listened to yesterday I enjoyed.
Overall will I be paying £9.99 a month for this service come September 30th? I think I will and I already feel that way after just 36 hours with the service. I used it almost all day yesterday and I really enjoyed it.
I don't see myself using Spotify anymore.
Well the best solution would be if Apple let me choose like Spotify.
I personally preffered the layout of Spotify to the way Apple Music is, however I would rather this trade off to have all of my music owned or streamed in one simple app.
I will get used to Apple Music in time.
Although I find the albums with only a couple of songs available to stream more noticable on Apple Music, am I the only one finding that?
I will get used to Apple Music in time.
Although I find the albums with only a couple of songs available to stream more noticable on Apple Music, am I the only one finding that?
I'm trying it out now, and I the ability to ask Siri to play songs is brilliant. I also found Spotify to be a bit glitchy, and although the iOS music app is as well, it's given me less problems so far, but software problems are very subjective, maybe I am just lucky?
The only complaint I have, as I've highlighted in other posts around this topic is the lag between songs, Apple Music takes longer to connect and play the song where Spotify was near instant for non-cached songs...I mean it's not a big deal, Apple Music does eventually get there, but the wait was noticeable at first.
Otherwise I like it
probably will switch
The only complaint I have, as I've highlighted in other posts around this topic is the lag between songs, Apple Music takes longer to connect and play the song where Spotify was near instant for non-cached songs...I mean it's not a big deal, Apple Music does eventually get there, but the wait was noticeable at first.
Otherwise I like it
probably will switch
Student budget not stretching to £9.99?
Not when an option half the price is available!
In iTunes, you can right click on any album you've added to your library and "get info" (or Command+I) and edit any metadata you'd like, exactly the same way you do with your own music.
I'm surprised to see some mentioning the length of Apple's playlists as a negative. I always thought the massive playlists on Spotify were too much. Too hard to get a sense of what the playlist was really about. I like the 15-25 song length. Much more manageable.
I've been using Spotify Premium for the past half year and I really enjoyed it. Never really understood the complaints about their mobile apps and with each update they've really improved on the design. I just wished it was a lighter themed app like iTunes/Music app.
Overall, I like Apple Music. I think the design is a little rough on the edges and a bit hard to navigate. I've listened to Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show and I really dig it. Looking forward to listening to the other two DJs whenever I get the chance. I've mostly been adding entire music albums of artists I like and haven't really used the playlist feature. I'm not really one to create my own playlists but I'm find with adding playlists others have created which is something I did a lot with Spotify. Lastly, gotta remind myself to click on the Connect tab from time to time to keep tabs on artists I'm following.
The next step is to definitely bring Siri to the Mac (and iTunes/Music).
Overall, I like Apple Music. I think the design is a little rough on the edges and a bit hard to navigate. I've listened to Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show and I really dig it. Looking forward to listening to the other two DJs whenever I get the chance. I've mostly been adding entire music albums of artists I like and haven't really used the playlist feature. I'm not really one to create my own playlists but I'm find with adding playlists others have created which is something I did a lot with Spotify. Lastly, gotta remind myself to click on the Connect tab from time to time to keep tabs on artists I'm following.
The next step is to definitely bring Siri to the Mac (and iTunes/Music).
Longtime Spotify user. My use probably differs from most in this thread, as I use it primarily for education. Using music in teaching languages is a brilliant approach, and Spotify has always provided the best selection for that.
My first look at Apple Music was less than positive, and finding what I wanted seemed arduous. I clicked on the French Pop station, and was transported back 40 years in time! WTH?
It does take a while to get the feel of the UI, but it only took two days for me to cancel my Spotify subscription.
My first look at Apple Music was less than positive, and finding what I wanted seemed arduous. I clicked on the French Pop station, and was transported back 40 years in time! WTH?
It does take a while to get the feel of the UI, but it only took two days for me to cancel my Spotify subscription.
Bummer, that doesn't fix my issue. The problem I have is that the album art in iTunes is correct, the art on my phone is fubared.
iCloud Library borked my stuff up so much I actually started a Spotify account. AM showed me I really did like subscription music, but I don't want it changing and deleting stuff from my personal music library of cd-ripped tracks (and yes, it did exactly that) or messing up my cover art (even if that part only happened on my phone).
I had Spotify for 2 years and cancelled my premium 2 days ago.
The Good:
Family Price - Its's a much better deal if you have 2 or more family members in addition to yourself and I have 3. Plus now I can add 2 more people for "free"
Siri - Pretty cool in the car.
Integration - In theory its Apple integrated, so should work better better within the Apple ecosystem (Note: My upcoming cons)
Smart Playlists - (See also cons)
The bad:
Spotify UI is better across the Mac and IOS. I know you could argue I am more familiar to the Spotify apps, and while that is true, its only 1/2 the problem. While things will get easier Apple Music as I learn its quirks. There is no doubt the Spotify UI is more direct.
Playlists - Spotify was much easier to create and organize playlists. Mainly due to UI above.
Syncing across devices - Spotify I add a playlist or song on 1 device and its pretty much on my ipad iphone mac right away. Apple Music not so much, some show up some dont.
Smart Playlists : Rarely working for me (Not following the rules I set). And when they do they there seems to be a 50/50 chance of them completely resetting and forgetting the rules I set.
Verdict:
Mainly to do the cost factor and integration. Ill be sticking to Apple Music.
The problems I have Apple Music are all most likely temporary problems.
Spotify, you served me well for 2 years, I have no complaints, you were the best service for me for the last 2 years but Apple Music is better for me now.
The Good:
Family Price - Its's a much better deal if you have 2 or more family members in addition to yourself and I have 3. Plus now I can add 2 more people for "free"
Siri - Pretty cool in the car.
Integration - In theory its Apple integrated, so should work better better within the Apple ecosystem (Note: My upcoming cons)
Smart Playlists - (See also cons)
The bad:
Spotify UI is better across the Mac and IOS. I know you could argue I am more familiar to the Spotify apps, and while that is true, its only 1/2 the problem. While things will get easier Apple Music as I learn its quirks. There is no doubt the Spotify UI is more direct.
Playlists - Spotify was much easier to create and organize playlists. Mainly due to UI above.
Syncing across devices - Spotify I add a playlist or song on 1 device and its pretty much on my ipad iphone mac right away. Apple Music not so much, some show up some dont.
Smart Playlists : Rarely working for me (Not following the rules I set). And when they do they there seems to be a 50/50 chance of them completely resetting and forgetting the rules I set.
Verdict:
Mainly to do the cost factor and integration. Ill be sticking to Apple Music.
The problems I have Apple Music are all most likely temporary problems.
Spotify, you served me well for 2 years, I have no complaints, you were the best service for me for the last 2 years but Apple Music is better for me now.
I'm a Spotify user. I'll be sticking with it for now since there is no way to import my playlists to Apple Music. Apple Music might be great in terms of recommendations but I find discovery difficult because the interface is overwhelming and very cluttered. Apple needs to simplify and remember a thousand noes for every yes.
I do not get the "it's to confusing" complaint either, I am able to figure it out.
So far I am very impressed with the radio stations, I typically play XM radio, Pandora or spotify all day long in the office. So far AM has much fewer repeat songs.
Expanding on what I said earlier, and what others have said, Spotify playlists are much more "mature"... For example, I listen to a popular EDM playlist that is updated every day with new songs, and currently has 325 song on it. I never get bored. Also, as far as integration with iTunes goes, in Spotify, at least when I'm on my computer, if I search for a song that is in my iTunes library, but not in Spotify, it will show up in the results, and I can add it to a playlist. It will even play on my iPhone once added to my playlist. I've done this with multiple songs.
Once you click on New, look at the top of the page (All Genres). You can select any style you like and the page will fill with music from that style. I didn't see that at first and went right to the radio tab. Also in new are categories for playlists that fit mood, activity, and recommendations from other services like Shazam based on user tags.
I agree. Playlists are handled MUCH better in Spotify. They also don't clutter up your library with hundreds of songs when you make them available for playing offline. Apple needs to fix this. What happens when people are downloading playlists on Apple Music that contain hundreds of songs and make available offline it adds them all to your library - after removing playlist they are still there. Note that this only happens when selecting offline.
I've been a Spotify premium member for years, but I am tempted by Apple Music, even if the UI is a little confusing.
Some things I have noticed. (my personal list)
Spotify
+PS3/PS4 integration
+Roku app (and just about every other device out there)
+Better playlists
+Option to control sound quality (bandwidth issues)
+Clean UI
-Iphone app seems to have a huge Cache issue (it constantly grows in memory usage)
-Hard to delete artists out of your library (have to go through albums only for some reason)
-Bad reputation for paying artists next to nothing.
Apple Music
+Integration with local music
+Videos
+Siri
+3 Month Trial
-Seems buggy still (as to be expected with first release)
Spotify
+PS3/PS4 integration
+Roku app (and just about every other device out there)
+Better playlists
+Option to control sound quality (bandwidth issues)
+Clean UI
-Iphone app seems to have a huge Cache issue (it constantly grows in memory usage)
-Hard to delete artists out of your library (have to go through albums only for some reason)
-Bad reputation for paying artists next to nothing.
Apple Music
+Integration with local music
+Videos
+Siri
+3 Month Trial
-Seems buggy still (as to be expected with first release)
That's just not true. If you go to "New," you will notice that at the top of the screen it says "All Genres." If you tap on that, you will get a drop-down list of genres (right now, there are 21 selections). if you select a genre, it will take you to a page with a legend "New Music >" and a couple of lines of albums, 3 to a line. If you tap on the "New Music >" it will take you to a more extensive list of music. For example, under Jazz/New Music, there are 32 albums. Under Classical, I count 28 new albums. So, while it is true that the more popular music is at the front page--Apple is, after all, in this to make money as well as provide a compelling music service--there are definitely a good selection of genres with a substantial amount of new music. What we don't know is how often these lists update--whether it's on the album release schedule or a separate timeline of Apple's. We will have to wait and see.
I have a PS3 and a PS4 and a Roku. I was considering getting an Apple TV but Apple didn't actually announce it at WWDC. So right now the ability to play my music through these other devices makes Spotify a better deal, but I have to say the Roku app is so elementary and poor. I actually haven't tried the PS4 yet, that might be better for me (and I also have Playstation Vue so Sony is fast taking away selling points from an Apple TV for me).
That being said, I prefer a lot of things about Apple Music. Maybe I'll just rely on my Bluetooth speaker for music versus going through a separate device like the Roku or PS4.