Apple Music & Spotify Music Converter: iTunes Store

Showing posts with label iTunes Store. Show all posts

Sunday, December 25, 2016

What does Apple Music really aim to?

The New York Times recently published an interview with Apple Music executives Jimmy Iovine and Larry Jackson. During the interview, the executives discussed where Apple Music's position is in the current music landscape. "We have no interest in being a label," says Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine. "But we do have interest in making our platform the one that’s best to communicate with the audiences."

Apple Music is known to the public for streaming tunes. But the whole platform is much bigger than that. By explaining to artists that Apple Music is also about marketing an artist, the service has been able to score exclusives on albums that eventually went on to top the charts. The part of the streaming service that the public doesn't notice is the part that sponsored Drake's 60-city tour this past summer, along with his promotional movie "Please Forgive Me." The latter remains an exclusive for Apple.

Referral reading: Pros and Cons of Apple Music

While it is easy for the media to focus on how quickly Apple Music has added subscribers, the most impressive thing Apple has done is to cultivate a relationship with musicians who have capitalized on Apple's marketing prowess and technological strengths. Whether Apple planned this in advance, or stumbled onto this template, is not so important. By pointing to the success Apple Music has had with albums from Travis Scott, Future and DJ Khaled (all three debuted as number one on Billboard as exclusives to Apple Music), Apple can tell up and coming artists that this could happen to them if they give Apple Music an exclusive and allow them to promote their work.

"We have real understanding of what these artists are trying to accomplish both aesthetically and commercially. We’re really getting there in merging these cultures — tech and the arts. And we’re trying to prove that we are the best place for an artist to fulfill their vision."-Jimmy Iovine, executive, Apple Music

If Apple does eventually overtake rival streamer Spotify, offering exclusives and getting in tight with the talent is how it will have to be done. Spotify already has 95 million users with 55 million using its ad-based free tier. While Apple does offer a one-time three-month free trial, it does not have a free level of service. Apple Music has 17 million subscribers at last count, and may never catch up unless it can continue to provide users with early access to music that Spotify can't play. For that to happen, Apple Music will have to continue focusing on its relationships with musicians and not pay attention to head count for another 24 months. At that point, it should take a breath to see how this strategy is working in relation to Spotify.

Referral reading: Apple Music VS Spotify

source: NYTimes

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Apple Music's latest exclusive - 808: The Movie

Apple was clear from the jump that it had bigger plans for its streaming service than just audio. Today, the Apple Music subscribers get an exclusive look a music-focused documentary: 808: The Movie. We first learned about the film that chronicles the history of the iconic 1980s drum machine back in 2014 and it was set to hit theaters last year. It debuted at SXSW in 2015, but had yet to see a wider release.

Referral reading: Pros and Cons of Apple Music

808: The Film is directed by Alexander Dunn with You Know Studios and Atlantic Records' own Atlantic Films teaming up for the production. Narrated by Beats 1's Zane Lowe, the film takes a deep dive into music history with commentary from Afrika Bambaataa, Beastie Boys, Questlove, Rick Rubin, Lil Jon, Diplo, Phil Collins and many others. As you might expect, there's also a soundtrack on which some of those names make a second appearance. Both the film and its audio counterpart are streaming on Apple Music starting today.

If you're not an Apple Music subscriber, the documentary is available for pre-order on iTunes for $17 and is slated to release on December 16th. Vinyl versions of the soundtrack and several other bundle options are also available from the Warner Music Store. For a brief look at what you can expect from the full-length film, watch the official trailer down below. Meanwhile, that Cash Money documentary that was supposed to stream on Apple Music this fall has yet to be released.

Source from: https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/09/apple-music-808-the-movie-now-streaming/

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Thursday, December 1, 2016

Apple Music student pricing comes to over 20 new countries

Apple today rolled out the student discount tier of Apple Music to over 20 new countries around the globe. As noted by The Financial Post, Apple Music's student discount offering is now available in Canada, Italy, Japan, and 22 other countries. With today's new additions, the tier is available in over 30 countries in total.

Apple Music's student pricing has been available in the United States Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Denmark for a while now, but today's countries are all new.

The student tier of Apple Music allows those enrolled in education to receive a discounted price for the streaming music service. For instance, in the United States the student tier runs just $4.99 per month.

The full list of new countries can be seen below:

Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
China
Chile
Colombia
Finland
France
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Switzerland
Singapore
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Thailand
United Arab Emirates

Apple uses a third-party service called UNiDAYS to verify a student’s eligibility for the student tier. The service confirms that a student is enrolled in an accredited university before allowing them to pay the student pricing. Alternatively, students can use their school email address or campus WiFi to automatically be granted access to the student pricing tier.

While Apple Music was rumored to be receiving a price cut across the board a few weeks ago, that hasn't come to fruition and was perceived with skepticism at the time. For now, it seems as if Apple Music’s pricing is set in stone, but at $4.99, the student tier of the service is hard to beat.

Source from https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/29/apple-music-student-pricing/

Monday, October 10, 2016

How about Apple Music in iOS 10

Source from http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/apps/entry/app-diary-oct.-7-apple-music-in-ios-10 BY PHIL DZIKIY @PHILDZIKIY

As a heavy Apple Music user since the service’s infancy, I’ve found the app’s recent redesign in iOS 10 has been a positive in every sense, compared to where it was less than a month ago. But that’s not to say it’s perfect — far from it. Here are a few thoughts from my recent experiences with Apple Music, compared to where it was in iOS 9.

Apple Music’s new look is brighter, more youthful, with — as a designer friend pointed out — a mess of different typography sizes. It’s not really my cup of tea, but it’s better than it was before, so I don’t have too many complaints about the overall vibe.

Most importantly, Apple Music is now easier to navigate. The larger text does make it easier to jump from a song to an artist, or an album, and Apple has finally figured out how to make titles and artists more easily tappable. You used to have to find the tiny ellipsis to navigate through what felt like a long series of menus just to get from one song to an album — that’s much easier now, thank goodness. There are still a lot of menus, but they’re mostly on separate “paths,” if you will, depending on where you started first.

Layout still seems to benefit the more casual music fan, and it probably always will: if you select an artist, you’ll find top songs and recent releases above a list of albums, for instance. I’d prefer a list of albums first, but without any customization, Apple’s approach is understandable considering the wide audience it’s trying to reach. The same nod to a casual, wide audience is found in Search — below recent searches, there’s a list of Trending searches. (I do not care which top 40 act is currently trending at the time.) Artists are also listed by first name alphabetically, which is annoying.

Then there’s the tale of typos. On the bright side, Apple Music can actually search your own typos now. Before, I’d often get absolutely no results if there was a typing mistake. No suggestions, nothing. Now the app gives you a list of possibilities, so “pxies” will indeed find results for Pixies. But Apple still has its own typo problems. The song titles of Bjork’s “Triumph of a Heart” and Beulah’s “What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades” have had obvious typos for months and months…probably for as long as Apple Music’s existed, because as you might expect, those same errors can be found in the iTunes Store. Based on the iTunes guidelines, it appears these typos are likely coming straight from the labels themselves — nevertheless, it’s on Apple to double check and fix these things. Errors can be found within Apple Music’s own album descriptions, as well. Björk’s masterful Homogenic has two inaccurate song titles in its otherwise glowing description — but scroll down and you’ll see the song titles spelled properly in the track list. Perhaps you’ve seen typos and errors of your own. This sort of thing makes Apple Music seem amateurish; certainly not something that would appeal to the music lover. Most people would never notice this sort of stuff, perhaps, but to a hardcore music geek, it’s embarrassing.

It’s worth noting, though, that Apple does seem to be working on this. Not long ago, I found R.E.M.‘s classic song “So. Central Rain” had a typo — but that typo’s no longer there as of this writing. Maybe they’re catching on, listening to complaints, and paying more attention to detail. (On the other hand, if you do an Apple Music search for “Hall and,” the first two results are “Hall and Oats” and “Hall and Oats greatest hits.” Now, maybe most Apple Music users are searching for “Hall and Oats” instead of Hall and Oates, but the service should know the actual name of the group and direct users that way. So there’s still work to be done. Poor John Oates.)

It’s good that Apple Music now puts Downloaded Music right there in the Library section — this was a necessary change — though I’ve learned to delete downloaded Apple-made playlists more often. If you download playlists to your iPhone, as I often do, and then remove the downloads without deleting the playlist from your phone, it can create confusion later: you might re-download one particular song, and Apple will put it right back into that playlist. That starts to get messy after a while, with a bunch of playlists only containing one or two songs that are actually stored on your phone. Best to reduce the clutter, and delete Apple’s playlists when you’re done with them. (I haven’t felt the need to delete any of my own created playlists, though. Those testaments to good taste and enjoyable listening? Oh, heavens no.)

As for the playlists themselves, and how Apple recommends and points users to new music, I think the service currently does a solid job. Besides the typical “You Might Also Like” section, which is usually pretty accurate, the “My New Music Mix” playlist is a good starting point. I particularly like the “My Favorites Mix,” which updates every Wednesday based on what you listen to — as Apple puts it, “the more you use Apple Music, the better the mix.” That particular mix isn’t exposing me to anything new, but it’s more apt to bring up a beloved song that I haven’t heard in a while.

A few other notes: I actually don’t mind not having landscape mode in Apple Music. Though some may disagree, it’s nice to know that when I’m moving my iPhone around, all the controls aren’t jumping back and forth across the screen. However, a fellow editor at least wishes the Now Playing screen could go into landscape mode for use with the new iPhone stereo speakers, and that’s a good suggestion. I also love the introduction of lyrics to the app — it’s an obvious addition, but that doesn’t make it any less cool.

Before, when people asked me if they should switch from, say, Spotify to Apple Music, I basically said that if you liked Spotify, there was no good reason to change — not with all of the previous UI problems in Apple Music. It’s a bit of a different story now, though. To say nothing of the artist exclusives — which you may or may not care about — the improved UI in the iOS 10 redesign makes it feel like Apple Music is finally coming into its own a bit.

Friday, August 5, 2016

Android users can use Apple Music App now

After nine months, Apple Music is out of beta for Android users. And now Apple Music is now available as a fully fledged app and service for owners of Android smartphones.

Of the big three music streaming players–that’s Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal–two have had an advantage, being available on both major mobile platforms, iOS and Android. Apple Music, on the other hand, lagged.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

This Friday hear “Boys Don’t Cry” of Frank Ocean on Apple Music

It is a long wait for a new Frank Ocean album.

Frank Ocean, as the innovative and enigmatic R&B singer, is set to release his next album, “Boys Don’t Cry,” on Friday through an exclusive deal with Apple Music, according to a person with knowledge of the release plans. The release is also expected to include a major video and a printed publication called “Boys Don’t Cry” that will be distributed at Apple stores.

“Boys Don’t Cry” is one of the year’s most anticipated new albums, and Mr. Ocean’s first since “Channel Orange” in 2012, which was widely hailed by critics and nominated for six Grammy Awards (it won one, for best urban contemporary album). Mr. Ocean himself first announced the new title three years ago, and seemed to play with the long wait when he included the image of an old-school library due-date slip labeled “Boys Don’t Cry” on awebsite connected to the album, with a series of stamped dates going back over a year. Given the number of delays the album has already had, it seems possible that Mr. Ocean could decide to put off the release beyond Friday.

Frank Ocean was an obvious talent, but Channel Orange's 2012 release made him a star. The album was universally recognized as one of the best of the year by critics, and was also nominated for six Grammy awards. It was commercially successful, too, debuting at #2 on the Billboard album charts. And in an elegant and brief note published on Tumblr a week before the album's release, Ocean told the world he was bisexual. It was a revelation that rendered the album's love songs even more affecting and helped to make music a more progressive space. Boys Don't Cry probably won't have the same social impact asChannel Orange — let's find out how it fares in terms of songcraft.

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