Anyone else an Apple Music subscriber?

Apple General
#1

I switched to Apple Music a number of months ago so I could take full advantage of Siri on my HomePod.

It’s come a long way since 2015, but still has a way to go. I think removing Connect was a mistake - I can’t follow artists or curators now!

I use SongShift with it a lot to bring across Discover Weekly from Spotify because I haven’t found anything as good at predicting what I’d like.

Just wondering who else is using it for their music streaming service? It feels a bit lonely in Apple Music land.

#2

I’m still on the 3-month evaluation period. So far, having plenty of older music available to simply download/stream is good, as I’m not much of a fan of most modern music.

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#3

Yeah, I’m currently paying student rates (which is about 50% off), but seriously thinking of giving it the boot. I no longer really use it and the iOS interface gives me the shits.

Recently I’ve started using Spotify. Although that has a lot of issues in itself I’m liking it more.

#4

That’s one of the big positives for me. I have plenty of music that isn’t on streaming services, so being able to upload that and play it anywhere is pretty cool

#5

I like Spotify more too because all my friends are there and it’s algorithms seem smarter, but I have Apple everything and the integration I get because of that is pretty awesome

#6

I have Apple Music but I much prefer owning my music, I only have it because it came free with my new phone contract

#7

Apple Music family plan here. Love it.

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#8

Yep, a quite happy Apple Music user here. Wife and I are both currently using the free months that came with our phone plan but will switch to Family plan via Apple when that ends in a few weeks.

We used Spotify when we were with a different carrier (because zero-rated data) but I find Apple Music’s automatically generated playlists to be much more to my liking.

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#9

I like to own my music, so no, havent even given it a thought.

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#10

Yep I’m happy enough with it. Some of the curated playlists of my favourite artists are great and get most of my time.

#11

Been using since it launched in Aus. Generally happy with it.

#12

I’ve been a paying customer of most of the different streaming services over time. I’ve personally never run into any content (on any of the services) that hasn’t been available and ultimately they have all “just worked”. Prices are pretty much the same too.

We switched to Google Music last year (?) because of YouTube Red (now premium) being bundled with it. Zero ads on YouTube is a fantastic thing and when it’s free with the music sub at the same cost as Apple Music it wasn’t a hard choice to move.

Occassionally I think about Apple Music so I could leave the phone at home when I go out for a bike ride, but the phone isn’t really a huge burden when there is a dedicated pocked for it anyway.

#13

I’ve tried Apple Music and I wanted to love it but couldn’t even like it. I found the user interface terrible and the playlists were awful with nothing that aligned with my tastes. Spotify on the other hand works very well for me… note that this is ‘for me’ I have some eclectic music tastes and don’t listen to anything that would fit in the main stream of todays commercial pap

eg I listen to a lot of 80’s electronic stuff (Yello, Art of Noise etc.) through too hard rock (Rob Zombie, AC/DC etc) and then mellow stuff like 10cc and ZZ Top

#14

I agree that the “interface” for Apple Music is a mess. I think because they added it to iTunes which has lots of legacy implications. I basically use Apple Music as a “free iTunes Store”. Ignore their albums, don’t use curated anything etc. I just search for albums I want, and add to library. Then I approach it as if I’d bought those items from iTunes (put in playlists etc.).

#15

I wish I could say the same. I’ve found a lot of movie soundtracks aren’t available for streaming, and a few weeks ago one of my favourite artists had all their old albums taken off streaming.

The bright side of this with Apple Music is that I bought the albums and ripped them to iTunes so I can stream them anywhere. The way Spotify handles your own music is pretty woeful still.

#16

I’m a big choir person, and I’ve been on the 3months free offer for about a month … since I saw somewhere there’s a ‘choral’ radio station (called Bliss) being curated by Eric Whitacre. I haven’t done/gone anywhere else, but listen to it in the car. Have been really enjoying this addition to my Choral listening repertoire so I may well stay on after the free offer expires … :notes:

#17

Yeah, you identified one of the problems I have with Apple Music - finding stuff! I went to Stations to try and find Bliss but I couldn’t. In the end I had to search for it, which I couldn’t have done if I didn’t know it’s name.

The way things are hidden in the Browse section is pretty bad too. It took me way too long to work out where the Top 100s were.

I’m really missing the ability to follow artists and curators. When they used connect it was really good and I found a lot of new music through it. I guess now they expect us to follow people like Eric Whitacre on Twitter to get his take on things :man_shrugging:

#18

We have a family plan that gets heavily used, originally signed up as we got six months free on Telstra that doesn’t count in your data cap. Switched to another provider and discovered it doesn’t use that much of a big data cap anyway.
Anyway, kids and Mrs Entropy use it a lot, I don’t as I have a work phone and can’t stream. I have to download the music first when on home wifi.
Fantastic for trips though.

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#19

I’ve been on and off Apple Music since its launch a few years ago and love it, it sounds like i might be in the minority here but i also love the iOS interface.

I used it for 2 years at launch then cancelled to test out the competition, i tried Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and Guvera (which shut down).
I found Spotify and Apple Music to be the best out of the streamers i tried. For Spotify I think the way you create and share playlists better and i really liked the social integration. I also found it had some of the lesser known bands i listen to but overall i much preferred Apple Music because of the interface and the curated playlists, in particularity The Echo Chamber with Mike D.

#20

I had it then cancelled then I missed it and resubscribed, I like having the content but the interface annoys me.

YouTube adverts annoy me but for my limited YouTube use Red isn’t worth it.

I did not know Google music included Red, I will have to give it a try.