Apple Music (On Trial & Onward)

[+48V]

Thanks!
I haven't used the radio feature much in the past, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. After getting the benefit of the slider in Mog and Rdio, not having it sent me more toward playlists and albums on the For You page.

That being said, I pulled up a couple artist stations and simply hit the skip button. It typically starts off with the seed artist playing every 4 or 5 songs, but the seed artist played less and less as I skipped through them. It would soon be every 20 plus songs. That may be caused by skipping or maybe their engine has that built in? I did notice a lot of the same artists showing up, though. Without a slider, I don't think it will ever really compare. Probably better off picking a station in the genre and listening to it when I am not wanting to hear a specific artist.

Yeah. Since no one is doing a slider anymore precooked playlists is the only road for free-form discovery. [snif] They're decent to pretty OK while they last (track count) and/or how often they're refreshed; for me...they get stale quick.

Aye. Possible that skips register -1s but that's a slippery slope that could really cock up yer "radio" deal. A thumbs down makes more sense to tailor taste. You mentioned AM added thumbs. Are they available on the radio stations? heh...maybe after 20 seed skips it simply exhausts the narrow pre-fetched artist catalog cue.

Hell, I once was playing around/comparing Rdio/Spotify/Google/Tidal on this element. I was not only getting the same artist(s) over and over..but at times the same F'n tracks I'd ejected 12-15-25 skips ago with Google, Tidal, & Spotify. And I purposefully chose artists with humongous catalogs. Jeebus-- Talk about a rubbish rithm rotation. LMAO.

Related notes: I was shocked and never understood why rdio "dumbed down" their slider going from 5 to 3 degrees of diversity. If someone is put off with the far fetch, then they could just dial it back. It did nothing but screw us adventurous sorts. Made zero sense. We was robbed!

Maybe when Spotify bought/swiped EchoNest out from under rdio that had something to with the slider downgrade. Can't remember the timing of when it all went down.
So yeah...presently nothing compares.

Related notes: Here's another couple standout wishlist items for Apple Music. Collaborative playlists & User Song commentary.

Spotify was an innovator here. Rdio had CPs and it was very appealing to me and many. Forward now, what with no-brainer ($3/mo.) deals on multi-user plans, collaborative playlisting should/is a killer feature. Since rdio blew up, I'm sorta in a holding pattern socially & service wise with my compted Spotify account. So I haven't really used Spotify's CP deal like I did with rdio; all my buds are scattered refugees- lol. But I really miss that facet.

I'll hang out to see what Pandora puts on the plate later this year before I stawb my stake in the ground. Now that AM has tidied up their UI, should Apple add crossfade/gapless playback, remote control, and CPs before then I'll be tempted to jump back on the Apple cart.

• http://9to5mac.com/2016/03/09/featu...aborative-streaming-radio-stations-playlists/

User Song Comments are also great. It's an informative circus. It's another AK but for music/track/artist specific threads.

 

[uofmtiger]

Yeah. Since no one is doing a slider anymore precooked playlists is the only road for free-form discovery. [snif] They're decent to pretty OK while they last (track count) and/or how often they're refreshed; for me...they get stale quick.

Aye. Possible that skips register -1s but that's a slippery slope that could really cock up yer "radio" deal. A thumbs down makes more sense to tailor taste. You mentioned AM added thumbs. Are they available on the radio stations? heh...maybe after 20 seed skips it simply exhausts the narrow pre-fetched artist catalog cue.

Hell, I once was playing around/comparing Rdio/Spotify/Google/Tidal on this element. I was not only getting the same artist(s) over and over..but at times the same F'n tracks I'd ejected 12-15-25 skips ago with Google, Tidal, & Spotify. And I purposefully chose artists with humongous catalogs. Jeebus-- Talk about a rubbish rithm rotation. LMAO.

Related notes: I was shocked and never understood why rdio "dumbed down" their slider going from 5 to 3 degrees of diversity. If someone is put off with the far fetch, then they could just dial it back. It did nothing but screw us adventurous sorts. Made zero sense. We was robbed!

Maybe when Spotify bought/swiped EchoNest out from under rdio that had something to with the slider downgrade. Can't remember the timing of when it all went down.
So yeah...presently nothing compares.

Related notes: Here's another couple standout wishlist items for Apple Music. Collaborative playlists & User Song commentary.

Spotify was an innovator here. Rdio had CPs and it was very appealing to me and many. Forward now, what with no-brainer ($3/mo.) deals on multi-user plans, collaborative playlisting should/is a killer feature. Since rdio blew up, I'm sorta in a holding pattern socially & service wise with my compted Spotify account. So I haven't really used Spotify's CP deal like I did with rdio; all my buds are scattered refugees- lol. But I really miss that facet.

I'll hang out to see what Pandora puts on the plate later this year before I stawb my stake in the ground. Now that AM has tidied up their UI, should Apple add crossfade/gapless playback, remote control, and CPs before then I'll be tempted to jump back on the Apple cart.

• http://9to5mac.com/2016/03/09/featu...aborative-streaming-radio-stations-playlists/

User Song Comments are also great. It's an informative circus. It's another AK but for music/track/artist specific threads.

Yes, the love/dislike buttons are available on radio stations. You have to be inside the app to use them, though. They aren't available from the control center.

Mog's slider did not have specific numbers. You could slide it too anywhere on the line. I am sure they did not have an infinite number of options, but the slider made it appear that way.

Personally, I don't care about the collabarative playlists or user song commentary (I would rather have All Music guide commentary), but I do think they need it since that is how the youngsters communicate. I can't imagine how many of those collabarative shared lists have Rihanna and Drake, judging by the top charts, but I am sure it is still fun when they go to add a song and it is already in there. If Apple wants to steal people away from Spotify, they have to do more of this sharing stuff, though. Connect, other than the Underwood photos, isn't really adding much...though you can provide comments on what the artist posted. Personally, I am surprised that Apple hasn't done much at all in the social networking area. Right now, you can click on a playlist and post it to a variety of services, but that doesn't go far enough for many. As I said, I could care less about this stuff myself. I have my own list of changes I would like to see them make and this isn't on the list.

I still think they could improve the app quite a bit. The organization and new look is a start, but they didn't add many new features to the beta. Maybe they will add more before the final version is out? The updated Remote app isn't out yet, so there is a chance that it will give more control than it has now? The Siri addition for the AppleTV will be pretty sweet, but they really need that to make its way to iTunes for people that want to hear music in hi res formats or want to use the multi-room capabilities that are only available from a computer.

The suggested playlists seem to have grown in the new version of the app. I am listening to something called "Music Nerd's Guide to Jazz" right now that I haven't run across before.


NOTE: I forgot to mention that they have added some new Force Touch features. Holding doing the icon will pull up some of your playlists, allow you to start the song you left off with, play Beats 1, or take you right to Search. You can also make an Apple Music Widget that shows several of your playlists in the notification center.

The normal iOS search feature that has worked with your own music ("my music") now will allow you to type in an artist, click on "search in app" for Apple Music and it will pull up the app with the search already filled in. If you type in the name of an album/song, it will bring it up and you can click on play right there. The interesting thing is that I typed in "Kind of Blue" and it pulled up the album with a star rating that isn't inside the actual app right now. They also have the wikipedia page listed below the album and you can click on it if you want to learn more (it won't take you to the webpage, if you click on it, an album description pops up).

I have attached some screenshots.

 

[uofmtiger]

I posted a preview of how the new music app works on the iPad.

I have mentioned the lack of artist info in the new version of the app in a prior post, but now that there is a split screen capability, you can just pull up wiki or allmusic to get around the problem. The app is still fully functional in this mode.

 

[chicks]

Coming soon to AM: Carpool Karaoke! Lol. Love it.

http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/apple-music-buys-rights-carpool-karaoke-spin-off-exclusive/

 

[uofmtiger]

Coming soon to AM: Carpool Karaoke! Lol. Love it.

http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/apple-music-buys-rights-carpool-karaoke-spin-off-exclusive/

I love that segment of that show. I wonder if they will still have in on his show or if it is will be exclusively on Apple Music? Where else can you see the Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer (Anthony Kiedis) wrestling a late night show host?

As a side note, the new Remote app for the AppleTV was released today. I haven't used it yet, but AppleTV Siri built into the iPhone/iPad will be a nice feature.

Note: I downloaded the app last night. It does not currently replace the old Remote app. In fact, it only controls the AppleTV, so you can't see your iTunes library (running on a computer) with it like you could with the old Remote app. I used it for a bit and the Siri option works nicely (wish you didn't have to hold down the button the entire time like you do with the Siri Remote), however, if they added Siri control over the Mac (which Sierra now has Siri), it would be much more useful for my needs. I am not ruling out the possibility that they are holding out that feature since Sierra isn't a public release at this point.

 

[chicks]

Been using AM in the car, for my 40 minute morning commute. I find their human curated jazz playlists to be much better than Pandora, which tends to stray too far from the theme. Algorithms just aren't as good at selecting music as knowledgeable humans.

I've tried it on the iPad and the Galaxy S5. Both connect to the car seamlessly, display the current song with image on the car's touchscreen, and can be controlled from the steering wheel.

Ironically, Apple gives a huge advantage to the Android version; the ability to cache songs to the removable micro SD. I have a 64GB in the GS5, which supports up to 256GB, I believe. Hours of music in full HQ downloads without using any cellular data.

 

[uofmtiger]

Been using AM in the car, for my 40 minute morning commute. I find their human curated jazz playlists to be much better than Pandora, which tends to stray too far from the theme. Algorithms just aren't as good at selecting music as knowledgeable humans.

I've tried it on the iPad and the Galaxy S5. Both connect to the car seamlessly, display the current song with image on the car's touchscreen, and can be controlled from the steering wheel.

Ironically, Apple gives a huge advantage to the Android version; the ability to cache songs to the removable micro SD. I have a 64GB in the GS5, which supports up to 256GB, I believe. Hours of music in full HQ downloads without using any cellular data.

Yeah, there have been complaints about that since the beginning, especially on the iPad. I have 128gb versions of both devices, but it definitely would have been cheaper to buy a card. Though, I usually just stream music, since I can hop on wifi at work and home. I use Bluetooth with the phone in the car and the iPhone Classic (160gb) gets the USB port, so I am covered either way.

Apple Music works better with my car's interface than any of the competitors I have tried. Spotify just doesn't work properly, so it is the main reason I went to Rdio and then AM.

You are right. The Jazz playlists they put together are awesome. They also understand the difference between Barry Manilow and Frank Sinatra, which seems to be lost on other services.

 

[uofmtiger]

One thing I forgot to mention about using it in the car is that Siri is extremely convenient. The new version of Apple Music app also has bigger pics of album art, so it is easier to pull up a playlists/albums when you are driving.

Another nice feature is that the Lockscreen has the most recently played albums ( 16 of them) that you can see and begin playing with just a tap of the screen (which comes on when you pick up the phone). No need to even launch the app. In other words, I think they made an effort to make iOS work better with the music app while you are doing other things.

 

[chicks]

I'll have to give Siri another try. Alexa understands me fairly well, but my attempts to woo Siri have been halting, so far. SWMBO has complete conversations with her, so maybe she just doesn't understand me. Wouldn't be the first female who didn't, lol.

The car has voice control, but limited to selecting which input, which Pandora station, next track, volume, etc.

 

[uofmtiger]

I'll have to give Siri another try. Alexa understands me fairly well, but my attempts to woo Siri have been halting, so far. SWMBO has complete conversations with her, so maybe she just doesn't understand me. Wouldn't be the first female who didn't, lol.

The car has voice control, but limited to selecting which input, which Pandora station, next track, volume, etc.

I still don't know that Siri will understand Portugese artists when you have the settings on English, but it does a great job of playing American/English artists.

My car will connect to Siri over Bluetooth (after you hit the home button on the phone). It looks like it is connecting with a phone number on the nav and then it goes back to playing music when your request is done. However, the best way to use it in the car is with the apple watch since it simply sends the command to the phone and starts to play. The way I use it to play an album is to say "Play XYZ by Artist Name". Works for me with very little issue. If I just want to hear an artist, I just say play "Miles Davis" and music plays. It is so convenient to not even need to touch the phone (though, like I said above, they made it easier to quickly start an album in AM or the Lock screen).

With Alexa and Siri, you have to figure out the proper way to talk to them. Both can be a handful if you don't say exactly what they want they want to hear.

 

[BillyBatts]

I let my Apple Music script lapse last month as I'm not using my iPhone as my daily driver these days anyway. The 4s is too old, too slow and too small for me. Only 1 more month until the 7 comes out (hopefully) and then I'll re-up my Apple Music script when I get the 7.

I've been using the BlackBerry Passport as my daily driver. Quad Core, huge memory, and FLAC built in. Plus, it accepts 128 Gig SD cards so I have a huge music library with me, AND, it's Apt-X Bluetooth so lossless Bluetooth out. Also, Blackberry put quite a very nice BlackBerry Music Server (similar to DLNA but more powerful - but uses DLNA protocol) in the phone. Plus, it's a "Phablet" so I rather like the large square screen. I have also played with the new Amazon BLU Droid for 50 bucks. An AMAZING phone for $50. Truly. And the ads on the lock screen do not bother me. BlackBerry now has Droid powered Berries. You get the security of BlackBerry (with BlackBerry HUB) and the Apps of Android on one phone.

BUT, I miss Apple Music and iPhone. So just one more month (Hopefully) and I'll have a new daily driver with Apple Music. I'll miss my 128 gig SD card. Doubt Apple will be going that direction.

 

[uofmtiger]

I let my Apple Music script lapse last month as I'm not using my iPhone as my daily driver these days anyway. The 4s is too old, too slow and too small for me. Only 1 more month until the 7 comes out (hopefully) and then I'll re-up my Apple Music script when I get the 7.

I've been using the BlackBerry Passport as my daily driver. Quad Core, huge memory, and FLAC built in. Plus, it accepts 128 Gig SD cards so I have a huge music library with me, AND, it's Apt-X Bluetooth so lossless Bluetooth out. Also, Blackberry put quite a very nice BlackBerry Music Server (similar to DLNA but more powerful - but uses DLNA protocol) in the phone. Plus, it's a "Phablet" so I rather like the large square screen. I have also played with the new Amazon BLU Droid for 50 bucks. An AMAZING phone for $50. Truly. And the ads on the lock screen do not bother me. BlackBerry now has Droid powered Berries. You get the security of BlackBerry (with BlackBerry HUB) and the Apps of Android on one phone.

BUT, I miss Apple Music and iPhone. So just one more month (Hopefully) and I'll have a new daily driver with Apple Music. I'll miss my 128 gig SD card. Doubt Apple will be going that direction.

Very nice setup if you want to live with your own files. As I mentioned, I mainly stream these days, even at home, so I am more concerned with the music service than whether the phone can handle a ton of lossless files (though, at home I usually select my own library via home sharing and have lossless stuff available in the app). My iPhone is 128GB, but I have more photos taking up space than music. As I mentioned above, I keep a 160GB Classic hooked up in my car at all times, but I rarely bother with it....unless I am in the mountains where cell service completely dies.

As I have noted in other posts, there is nothing wrong with people preferring their well curated music. I sometimes see something from my own library in For You and get nostalgic for it. There is still something to be said for listening to one album over and over to get a real feel for it. I remember my first introduction to Love Supreme and it took numerous plays for it to completely grow on me. With millions of songs at my fingertips, I would probably,regretfully, just move on.

Like you, I would miss Apple Music too much, so I guess I will stick with them. I have the 6s Plus, so I am still not sure that I will be updating this year. I may wait another year for one. I will wait and see what they have to offer, though. If something mind-blowing comes out of this release, I may go ahead and bite the bullet.

 

[uofmtiger]

Downloaded the latest iOS 10 beta. They now have an "About " section when you click on an artist. It looks like All Music Guide info. Albums also have a description! Finally!!!! Let's just hope it stays for the final update.

Artist info:



Album description below:

 

[+48V]

Downloaded the latest iOS 10 beta. They now have an "About " section when you click on an artist. It looks like All Music Guide info. Albums also have a description! Finally!!!! Let's just hope it stays for the final update.

Artist info:

View attachment 775489

Album description below:

View attachment 775490

Definitely a step forward for Apple Music. While the About page is lacking a carriage return or two....the second shot is somewhat "comfortably" curtailed. Hoping this will get better as time flies.

Any chance you can give us some current desktop shots of AM from within {shudder}.... the iTunes real estate.

I'm guessing this is just an iOS update.

 

[+48V]

For a desktop reference, here's a shot of Spotify's desktop About page.



This is what you get above the fold on a 28" monitor @ 1920x1080 rez. Takes one full screen scroll down to get into any meaty textual/bio info. Tidal and Napster are just a scooge better...but that ain't saying much. Google play is as out to lunch on "liner notes" as Apple was. So good for AM for reaching out of the slim slime.

I realize/hope, as time marches on, some will eventually come around and replace this sort of design lazy filler bullshit. I mean Jeezus, their attention to meta data along with their monkey grinder design chops is atrocious.

It just boggles my mind how the current minions can't see/figure out/ignore how Roon, Sonos, and Rdio frame/link this info so much better. It's not like they haven't had some killer templates to go to school on the past 5 years.

 

[BillyBatts]

Downloaded the latest iOS 10 beta. They now have an "About " section when you click on an artist. It looks like All Music Guide info. Albums also have a description! Finally!!!! Let's just hope it stays for the final update.

Artist info:

View attachment 775489

Album description below:

View attachment 775490

Nice.

I misread the iOS 10 update when I first perused it months ago, and thought my iPad 2 was INCLUDED in the update. Not so. The iPad 2 like the 4s are nixed beyond 9.x.
So I'll have to wait for iPhone 7 to explore iOS 10. Anything outside of Apple Music that you found noteworthy? Yes, I could read the reviews, but prefer to go with known and trusted sources like we have here.

 

[chicks]

Very nice additions. Looking forward to the update.

 

[uofmtiger]

Nice.

I misread the iOS 10 update when I first perused it months ago, and thought my iPad 2 was INCLUDED in the update. Not so. The iPad 2 like the 4s are nixed beyond 9.x.
So I'll have to wait for iPhone 7 to explore iOS 10. Anything outside of Apple Music that you found noteworthy? Yes, I could read the reviews, but prefer to go with known and trusted sources like we have here.

The ability to pick up the iPhone and have the screen light up without touching the screen first. The ability to get to a lot of stuff from the lockscreen (which you can disable). As I mentioned, it is nice to be able to start a recently played album without logging into the phone, but you can also see your calendar, weather, top news, etc. They have a Home widget also built into the Control Center/lockscreen that is accessible without logging into the phone. This is nice for Homekit stuff like lighting.

Like I mentioned before, the Search ability in the notification center is so much better now, especially for music. For example, searching for Miles Davis will bring up results from your library, AM, suggested websites, Wiki, web videos. In my case, it actually found a "Pop market" email containing his name from 2011 (yeah, I am an email packrat)! For general stuff, you can type in something like Eames Lounge and it will pull up a wiki entry, suggested sites that have articles on the subject, email entries with the name, and they actually had a web video of the chair.

For food, you can type in something like "Mexican food" and it will pull up the closest restaurants with Yelp scores and distance with the option to click on "directions". It also pulls up apps like Chopotle and "Mexican Food! little cooking school", it has website suggestions, Mexican Food Meetups in your area, the Twitter handle for Mexican Food, etc.. Anyway, the search ability is better across the board.

The notifications now look a bit different, but one thing they added was clearing all notifications.

Messaging got a lot of work with emojis. I don't use a lot of texts, so this may not be new, but now when you start typing something like "Okay", they will give you the option to use a symbol for the gesture instead. They also added some new emoticons that you can get in the Apple Store, so this will continue to grow. Too much to mention, but they made a ton of changes to messaging. I don't know anyone that has Beta to be able to test most of the features, though (like Fireworks in the background).

The Control Center is now three pages. However, it remembers your last selection. The main page has the general stuff like internet, Bluetooth, etc.. They added some "3D Touch" features, so now you can hold down the Flashlight icon and get choices like "Bright light", "Medium Light" , "Low Light". The clock now has timer functions available via 3D Touch (1 hour, 20 min, 5 min, 1 min). The camera has "take photo", Record slow mo, record video, and take selfie available via 3D Touch. You now have a Night Shift option that makes the screen warmer for using at night. Music gets its own page with Airplay option on the screen (they changed how those look), and the third page is for Homekit control that I mentioned earlier. Homekit is fairly full featured for stuff that is compatible. For example, you can change brightness and turn off/on very easily. You can also easily change colors of the light if it is compatible with the feature.

Those are what jump to mind, but I doubt that I covered everything.

 

[BillyBatts]

The ability to pick up the iPhone and have the screen light up without touching the screen first. The ability to get to a lot of stuff from the lockscreen (which you can disable). As I mentioned, it is nice to be able to start a recently played album without logging into the phone, but you can also see your calendar, weather, top news, etc. They have a Home widget also built into the Control Center/lockscreen that is accessible without logging into the phone. This is nice for Homekit stuff like lighting.

Like I mentioned before, the Search ability in the notification center is so much better now, especially for music. For example, searching for Miles Davis will bring up results from your library, AM, suggested websites, Wiki, web videos. In my case, it actually found a "Pop market" email containing his name from 2011 (yeah, I am an email packrat)! For general stuff, you can type in something like Eames Lounge and it will pull up a wiki entry, suggested sites that have articles on the subject, email entries with the name, and they actually had a web video of the chair.

For food, you can type in something like "Mexican food" and it will pull up the closest restaurants with Yelp scores and distance with the option to click on "directions". It also pulls up apps like Chopotle and "Mexican Food! little cooking school", it has website suggestions, Mexican Food Meetups in your area, the Twitter handle for Mexican Food, etc.. Anyway, the search ability is better across the board.

The notifications now look a bit different, but one thing they added was clearing all notifications.

Messaging got a lot of work with emojis. I don't use a lot of texts, so this may not be new, but now when you start typing something like "Okay", they will give you the option to use a symbol for the gesture instead. They also added some new emoticons that you can get in the Apple Store, so this will continue to grow. Too much to mention, but they made a ton of changes to messaging. I don't know anyone that has Beta to be able to test most of the features, though (like Fireworks in the background).

The Control Center is now three pages. However, it remembers your last selection. The main page has the general stuff like internet, Bluetooth, etc.. They added some "3D Touch" features, so now you can hold down the Flashlight icon and get choices like "Bright light", "Medium Light" , "Low Light". The clock now has timer functions available via 3D Touch (1 hour, 20 min, 5 min, 1 min). The camera has "take photo", Record slow mo, record video, and take selfie available via 3D Touch. You now have a Night Shift option that makes the screen warmer for using at night. Music gets its own page with Airplay option on the screen (they changed how those look), and the third page is for Homekit control that I mentioned earlier. Homekit is fairly full featured for stuff that is compatible. For example, you can change brightness and turn off/on very easily. You can also easily change colors of the light if it is compatible with the feature.

Those are what jump to mind, but I doubt that I covered everything.

Thank you. Great synopsis.

The one thing that really used to bug me coming from BlackBerry 10 and the BlackBerry "Hub" was the inability to clear ALL notifications with one button, so I am glad they addressed this. The rest is just icing on the cake for me. I didn't use Siri all that much with my old iPhone, but will probably dive into it more with the 7.

Speaking of the 7, about 3 1/2 weeks until Launch date of iPhone 7, and another week for me to get one from my service provider.

Thanks again.

 

[uofmtiger]

Definitely a step forward for Apple Music. While the About page is lacking a carriage return or two....the second shot is somewhat "comfortably" curtailed. Hoping this will get better as time flies.

Any chance you can give us some current desktop shots of AM from within {shudder}.... the iTunes real estate.

I'm guessing this is just an iOS update.

I have Sierra on my Mac Mini, so I will see if there is a new update when I get home.

I noticed the lack of proper paragraphing in their descriptions, but I was still very happy to have any kind of a description, so I can live with it! I would still like longer album reviews, but at least in the "CliffNotes" that they provide, you can get a general idea of what the album is about. It does seem strange, since bringing over the exact review would be more of a copy paste than bringing over highlights. However, I did a comparison of the album Kid A and it doesn't even look like the All Music review. Maybe they are sourcing the album reviews elsewhere?