Apple Music (On Trial & Onward)

Some screenshots from the current iTunes version on Sierra. This first pic shows the links for different areas of "For You". This is the top of the Connect page:

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 6.57.22 PM.png


For comparison purposes, this is the Amos Lee page. It has his top songs and albums at the top of the page:

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 7.09.13 PM.png

This is the bottom of the page with the description, similar artists and Connect posts by Amos Lee:

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 7.09.29 PM.png

The New page is now Browse with links to different areas at the top of the page.

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 7.11.59 PM.png


Below is playlist, but you now have a tab with 'Up Next", History, and Lyrics at the top of the page:

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 7.15.05 PM.png

A look at the lyrics (not available for every song):

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 7.15.27 PM.png

Pop out option for Loving and Disliking:

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 7.16.14 PM.png
Album descriptions:

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 7.24.51 PM.png
 
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?

Wikipedia? Would be nice to never have to return to allmusic.com, which has gotten to be so bloated with ads.
 
Wikipedia? Would be nice to never have to return to allmusic.com, which has gotten to be so bloated with ads.
I agree, but I would highly recommend an ad blocker. It doesn't knock out all of their ads for some reason (I have read that some of the ad blocking apps have their own deals with the ad sellers), but it makes the experience much less intrusive. Some sites have added a feature where their page won't load if you have ad blockers on, but they haven't resorted to that yet.

I wonder if Apple is trying to keep the album descriptions as small as possible because their most popular platform is the iPhone? It looks like they have artist descriptions from All Music, so I would think it would have been easy to also port over the album descriptions rather than having to go to another service.

Note: One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that there is now a "memories" section in the Photos app. It puts together a video from photos. It uses selections like location or "best of the past week", etc.

You can change up the video using categories like "Chill," "Happy," "Uplifting," "Epic," etc. and it will change pacing of the video and the music. You can also select the length of the video from short, medium, and long. They can now search by what is in the photo and find stuff like dogs, flowers, etc. It also has facial recognition. If you have used Google Photos, this is similar, but they are supposedly not gathering your data or passing it through a server, but rather they are making the assessments on the device.

As with Google Photos, their search terms aren't perfect. Some dogs will show up as cats, for example. I actually have a photo of a dog in the sun that Google thinks is a flower and they both think that my parent's Pomeranian is a bear.
 
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Some screenshots from the current iTunes version on Sierra. This first pic shows the links for different areas of "For You". This is the top of the Connect page:

View attachment 775883


For comparison purposes, this is the Amos Lee page. It has his top songs and albums at the top of the page:

View attachment 775885

Nice. Thanks for this.

Indeed much less above the fold filler and cleaner than Brand Xs. (Roon aside)

I admired what they did to their iOS update---bold headers and more focus on personal collection/favorites. With succinct and unburried info on tracks/albums, etc. These desktop "enhancements" are similarly centered and welcome.

Not a fan of popout like/unlike...but hey, the numerous baby steps forward outweigh that minor bitch.;)
 
I wonder if Apple is trying to keep the album descriptions as small as possible because their most popular platform is the iPhone?
I don't think that is an issue as the User Agent (device id) will build the page content dynamically to fit the device. Phone/Tablet/Desktop each have their own screen-estate parameters "built in".
 
I would highly recommend an ad blocker.{for allmusic.com}
I concur. @chicks you should install an ad blocker on your iPad. As you mentioned, AllMusic.com is a clusterfuck (my word not yours. lol) of money grubbing scripts that completely breaks an otherwise useful site. I get it....what they do is expensive. And their Rovi license (which builds 80% of their site content) is far from being cheap. But damn...they are overboard with the click revenue to pay the rent tact.
:whip:
 
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Nice. Thanks for this.

Indeed much less above the fold filler and cleaner than Brand Xs. (Roon aside)

I admired what they did to their iOS update---bold headers and more focus on personal collection/favorites. With succinct and unburried info on tracks/albums, etc. These desktop "enhancements" are similarly centered and welcome.

Not a fan of popout like/unlike...but hey, the numerous baby steps forward outweigh that minor bitch.;)
You are welcome.

Yes, I would prefer having the option next to the album name without needing to click a box to get the option. However, it is better than not having the option since they can use it to fine tune their suggestions. I haven't used the desktop version very often, but the layout seems very workable. They just need to make their Remote app for iTunes work better with Apple Music. (Note: I hope they eventually separate it out, but they know millions of people already have iTunes on their desktop so it gives them easy access without needing people download a new app.)

I don't think that is an issue as the User Agent (device id) will build the page content dynamically to fit the device. Phone/Tablet/Desktop each have their own screen-estate parameters "built in".
I don't think it is an issue technically fitting it on the page. I think they probably made a design decision based on the platform.

Hmmm... I let mine lapse because I hated the user interface in iOS 9. I'll see what happens with iOS 10.
The new version looks a lot different, though they have kept most of the features. You should definitely give it another try when it is available to see if you like it better.
 
Nice. Thanks for this.
As I mentioned, I don't use iTunes on the desktop very often, but I was in my home office this morning and had it playing an noticed a new mini-player that I do not believe is in the older version of iTunes. Some snapshots below. The first one has the entire desktop so you can get an idea how big the player is (you can make it a little bit larger by dragging a corner or drag the box anywhere you want on the screen), but the rest will be cropped for just the player:
itunes1.jpg


The pic below shows the what comes up when you click on the (...) symbol (note: you can like a track without pulling up the menu):

itunes2.jpg

There is also a smaller version (you have to right click to see the menu above):

itune3.jpg


Personally, i would like at least a forward and back button, but I guess they figure you can more easily access those commands from your keyboard (which is how I usually do it).
 
Proof that the AAC256 encoding Apple uses for Apple Music is indistinguishable from Apple Lossless. Young ears, good equipment, familiar music, complete failure to detect a difference between the formats.

 
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Proof that the AAC256 encoding Apple uses for Apple Music is indistinguishable from Apple Lossless. Young ears, good equipment, familiar music, complete failure to detect a difference between the formats.

In fairness, I would still prefer the original version. If someone spit in my food, it might not be able to tell in a taste test, but I still wouldn't want it. I think that is where a lot of people are on this issue. They want the original version of the music and anything short of lossless isn't the same as the original. I personally care more about mastering, but given the choice of the same music with the same master, I would always pic the lossless version. It may all be mental, but so much about being a music fan is how music makes you feel. Lower resolutions make many people feel like they may be missing something regardless of the number of ABX tests that indicate the opposite.

Personally, lossless isn't the most important factor for me. I think Apple often has better masters and I prefer their service for the many reasons I have mentioned in the past. However, if they had a slider that went to lossless on their app, I would never take the slider off that setting.
 
I don't use iTunes on the desktop
Neither do nor regularly have I.

iTunes, for me, launches strictly upon a need be basis. lol. I so wish Apple would have not tethered AM inside iTunes. :( But it is what it is.

For what time I spend as a desktop streamer...iTunes integration is a heavy & gloomy factor I must weigh. Thanks again for the screen shots.

Wasn't the mini player a long held standard aspect of iTunes? It was/is for me. Or are you simply noting this is a first for streaming AM in a mini player? :idea:

In any event, it looks fairly handy and unobtrusive. :thumbsup:
 
Neither do nor regularly have I.

iTunes, for me, launches strictly upon a need be basis. lol. I so wish Apple would have not tethered AM inside iTunes. :( But it is what it is.

For what time I spend as a desktop streamer...iTunes integration is a heavy & gloomy factor I must weigh. Thanks again for the screen shots.

Wasn't the mini player a long held standard aspect of iTunes? It was/is for me. Or are you simply noting this is a first for streaming AM in a mini player? :idea:

In any event, it looks fairly handy and unobtrusive. :thumbsup:
I thought the larger album art in the mini player was new?

Personally, I don't have any real issue with Apple Music/iTunes, I just don't spend as much time in my home office listening to music as I used to. I prefer the new layout of AM in iTunes, though. I typically keep iTunes running 24/7 and access via home sharing on the Appletv or the AM app on my iPhone or iPad.

I have other music apps like Fidelia and JRiver, but most of the time I just use iTunes since it is already up and running and works with AM. I do keep JRiver up and running for Echo Dot control, but I don't feel inclined to use it very often.

As far as ios10, I think the feature where it transcribes voicemail is also new ( or I just never noticed it before). That is a nice feature.
 
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Interesting new icon showed up on the "For You" page of both the iTunes and iPhone AM app. Something called "New Music" (Discover new music from artists we think you'll like - updated every Friday):

IMG_1429.jpg IMG_1430.jpg


I haven't had a chance to listen to the music they selected, but I know a lot of people wanted something like this, so I bet it will make a lot of folks happy. I think Spotify already had something similar.

Note: I just noticed a new "My Favorites" playlist that features some songs you have listened to. (" songs you love and more")....this one gets updated on Wednesdays.


Edit (9/7) -Today is the day for the new iPhone announcement. I am definitely interested in how they explain the (reportedly) missing headphone jack.
 
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In fairness, I would still prefer the original version. If someone spit in my food, it might not be able to tell in a taste test, but I still wouldn't want it. I think that is where a lot of people are on this issue. They want the original version of the music and anything short of lossless isn't the same as the original. I personally care more about mastering, but given the choice of the same music with the same master, I would always pic the lossless version. It may all be mental, but so much about being a music fan is how music makes you feel. Lower resolutions make many people feel like they may be missing something regardless of the number of ABX tests that indicate the opposite.

Personally, lossless isn't the most important factor for me. I think Apple often has better masters and I prefer their service for the many reasons I have mentioned in the past. However, if they had a slider that went to lossless on their app, I would never take the slider off that setting.

That's a very interesting point of view. I'm not in the lossless is great because it is lossless camp. But it makes sense that is how some people are looking at it.

However the point about caring more about mastering ... that's starting to intrigue me at this time. "Mastered for Itunes" <<< (click link) .
 
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That's a very interesting point of view. I'm not in the lossless is great because it is lossless camp. But it makes sense that is how some people are looking at it.

However the point about caring more about mastering ... that's starting to intrigue me at this time. I just might try some "Mastered for Itunes" <<< (click link) downloads on my mains rig.
If you use Apple Music to locate the MFiT selections, it can be difficult to find. I have read that if you see it on iTunes and the release date is within the last few years, it is probably MFiT. Apple Music used to have a feature where they highlighted different "Essential MFiT Albums" in different genres, but that has gone away. However, I did print screens and posted them to my website, so they are easy to find if I want to listen to something that I know is MFiT.

iOS10 is supposed to come out today. I noticed this morning that the mail app now has an "unsubscribe" button at the top of some emails. So if you get a lot of email from one source and you want them to go away, you don't need to go to their website, it can be done right from the mail app. Lots of new features in iOS10 and Apple Music. Should be a lot of fun trying it out for those that did not want to risk messing up their devices with beta.
 
Got my iPhone 7 Plus last night. I tested the lighting to "camera connection kit" to Plugable Hub to Dragonfly (first version) DAC trick and it still works. I tried it without the Plugable hub and it still says it doesn't have enough juice. Kind of disappointed that they did not increase the power output on the Lightning port since they removed the jack. :mad:

I haven't tried the adapter or the lightning buds, but I was one of the people that never used the headphone jack to begin with.

Really liking my new Apple Music "My Favorite Mix". Where else can you hear a playlist with Frank Sinatra, Chris Stapleton, Flatt & Scruggs, Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper, Ben Webster and Don Henley? Okay, maybe I am the only one interested in such a playlist, but I like it!:thumbsup:
 
Kind of disappointed that they did not increase the power output on the Lightning port since they removed the jack. :mad:
That is an unfortunate gyp for the plus model. Bummer.
Where else can you hear a playlist with Frank Sinatra, Chris Stapleton, Flatt & Scruggs, Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper, Ben Webster and Don Henley?
Erm...(as ugly as it is aesthetically) Spotify. :D

Ultimately it boils down to personal investment....over time, ya gets what ya gives.
 
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