When it comes to music, there is an exciting, or rather rewarding, feeling to be that person to play the “new” song for your friend, or showing someone an artist they connect with for the very first time. If you’re not one of those individuals, then you certainly have some friends that might be. Those who venture out into the indie, alternative underground worlds, wisping through sub-genre cultures like it’s their passion.
Looking at Apple Music from this perspective leads Techcrunch to believe that that is where their strong suit lies. Among a sea of competitors in the streaming service industry, Apple hopes to edge out a fairly significant space for itself. Echoing sentiments from many critics, Josh Constine writes about how he’s glad Apple didn’t go the route of Tidal or Spotify by buying up exclusives to “fracture and balkanize the world’s music catalog;” instead the focus is on delivering content before anyone else. Apple is that friend, and they’re well aware that premieres are where it’s at. And while we’re only in the beginning stages of Apple Music, it’s quite possibly shaping up to be an advantage.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was happy to announce during the latest quarter earnings that Apple Music has “millions and millions” of users. His feeling is probably best described as being contrary to how everyone felt about the social music service, Ping. Cook hasn’t discussed exact numbers, but an estimation, according to the Hits Magazine, has been pinned down to more than 10 million active users. It wasn’t until 2010, two years after Spotify launched, that the service passed the 10 million mark. It probably helps that Apple is a hugely successful company and obviously carries along a dedicated fan base. What’s even more astonishing is that streaming numbers for popular hip-hop songs are on track with Spotify, keep in mind that the leading service boasts about 75 million users.
Not all 10 million users were content with the product, however, as some well known bloggers and iOS developers, including Jim Dalrymple and Marco Arment, denounced Apple Music as a “toxic hellstew of unreliability,” at least, that’s how Arment put it. Jim Dalrymple was right there with him after a giant technical mishap that saw 4,700 digital songs disappear from his collection.
“Apple music is a nightmare, and I’m done with it,” Dalrymple wrote to his 35,000 Twitter followers.
Following Dalrymple’s complaints, which by the way prompted Apple’s PR team to intervene, Arment said,
“With the introduction of Apple music, Apple confusingly introduced a confusing service backed by the iTunes Store that’s confusingly integrated into iTunes and the iOS Music app (don’t even get me started on that) and partially, maybe, mostly replaces the also very confusing and historically unreliable iTunes Match.”
He sounds a bit redundant but clearly getting his point across to the readers. It is completely within his right to voice an opinion, but really, can you not express some semblance of patience? It’s somewhat annoying to come across declarations of poor performance in regards to an entirely new streaming service. Let the product evolve and develop. Apple is a product innovator; let them figure out the kinks, and in the meantime, you have a three month free trial, so enjoy it.
And this brings us to the next and most looming question plaguing the debut of Apple Music’s paywall. Come September, which is the earliest point some users will have to decide whether to roll over to a $9.99 monthly fee, retain their Spotify premium account, or continue their free listening elsewhere, there will be a significant test to Apple’s strategy. Can Apple protect revenue streams for artists, producers and major music labels, while simultaneously satisfying music listeners across the globe?
The former group aired out their disappointment in Apple’s three month trial, but they cannot go as far to complain about the promised royalties. Apple executive Robert Kondrk stated that Apple agreed to pay out slightly higher percentages than the streaming industry norm.
Apple Music Connect has already added 15,000 artists to the platform. This allows artists to share updates and push notifications about unreleased material, tour tickets and merchandise to all their fans. In addition to the grand exposure Connect offers, users will also have access to Beats 1 radio where DJ’s feed listeners to a whole gamut of music. Apple is able to create leverage by virtue of how Apple Music functions. Unlike Spotify, whose structure is built around the user taking on the reins, Apple Music isn’t necessarily focused so much on search and personalization as it is promoting the content it wants to deliver to audiences.
By driving new media content viral and setting the pace for everyone else, that could very well be Apple’s strongest advantage for both artists and listeners moving forward. Apple Music might just become your coolest friend.
Image: Via Apple
