![]() All of these additional features work as advertised - with the ‘For You’ section being questionable - but they definitely aren’t anything that would convince me to purchase a subscription. The better place to find new music was in the ‘Similar Artists’ section of individual band pages. The ‘For You’ section isn’t bad either, but it often lists the same bands/albums that I already own. Apple would have been better off if they had just let bands integrate their Facebook pages, since that is essentially what Connect is (except without nearly the same participation). The same can be said for the ‘Connect’ feature. Personally, I don’t pay for a streaming service so that somebody else (real or programmed) can pick my music for me. Apple’s internet radio has definitely improved since they first entered the arena, but it’s still nothing special. The different radio stations (including one with live DJs) are no different than any other online/satellite radio and can’t really be considered a selling point. The Mobile App - Artist Page, Library Page, Connect and For You (Click for Full Size Image) ![]() Whether it is being used on a full size iPad, a tiny iPhone 4s or a stretched 5th Gen iPod Touch, the interface looks great. The mobile version of Apple Music looks just as beautiful and has the same features. It seems, though, that even the underground artists will at least have a biography and ‘Similar Band’ section. Of course, depending on the artist, not all of these features are available. ![]() This is Apple’s way of letting artists connect directly with fans if they have any desire to. In addition to albums, there is often high definition music videos. Clicking that tab takes you to the Apple Music band page which will list all of that band’s albums making it very easy to add new music to iTunes. What you might not expect is that, in addition to your music, there will most likely be an artist biography, a list of similar artists, and even a list of ‘Influencers’ or bands that influenced the artist that you’re currently browsing some of the bigger artists even have a banner at the top of their artist page. The first is ‘My Music’ which is exactly what you would expect - all of your personally owned music and any streaming albums you’ve added. The most noteworthy is the addition of three tabs at the top of the band page. When you select an individual artist there are a few new features that pop up. The integration doesn’t stop there, though. The only way to tell the difference is the little cloud icon with an arrow through it that lets you know that you can download the track for offline use. On the desktop, the streaming albums integrate flawlessly with any purchased/ripped music that is already on your iTunes. The actual presentation of both the desktop and mobile versions of Apple Music are beautiful. There will be a lot of comparisons to Spotify since that service is obviously Apple’s biggest competitor. The ‘test devices’ that were used for my comparison of Spotify and Apple Music are the following: iMac, Macbook Pro, iPhone 6+, iPhone 4S, iPad 3rd Generation and iPod Touch 5th Generation. On the other hand, I do like Apple products so I had to give Apple Music a shot. I’ve been a member of Spotify Premium since July of 2011 and I’ve never really had any issues with it or a desire to try to find anything better. In the interest of transparency, this is my brief history and a list of test devices. Everybody will have different experiences based on their preferences, their familiarity with one product or another, as well as what hardware they’re using.
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