Apple looks to kill off free Spotify streaming to make more $$$ for itself

[panpete]

I just realised that post above doesn't make sense, lol.
I meant to say that humans are behind corporations.
If I had boatloads of money, and I knew I was going to die soon, and not need a fortune to spend on care home costs or whatever, I would leave some to my family and friends, but the rest, I would give to charity.
Throughout the centuries, there has always been rich people, but they hoard wealth, and corporations have been grown by people throughout the centuries, and have people behind them.

 

[editor]

Wham! Taylor Swift socks it to Apple:

Taylor Swift has pulled her hit album 1989 from Apple's new streaming music service and criticised the company.

In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers.

"I'm not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months," she wrote.

She said the plan was "unfair", arguing Apple had the money to cover the cost.

"I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company," the 25-year-old said, describing Apple as one of her "best partners in selling music".

"These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much," she continued.

"We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period - even if it is free for the fans trying it out.

"Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing."
She ended her letter by calling on Apple to change its policy, suggesting she would reinstate her album on the service if the company changed its mind.

"We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33216778

 

[pinkychukkles]

... and Apple then back down!

Apple Music has reversed its payment policy, a day after Taylor Swift said she was refusing to allow the company to stream her album 1989.

In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers.

Now Apple says it will pay artists for music streamed during trial periods.

"We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple," tweeted executive Eddy @Cue.

Swift had said the plan was "unfair", arguing Apple had the money to cover the cost.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-33220189

More on the graundiad.

 

[Diamond]

It would be nice if Apple now paid any respect to all the other IP owners that it exploits...

 

[editor]

... and Apple then back down!


More on the graundiad.

"Love, Apple".

Sickening.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

... and Apple then back down!


More on the graundiad.

And suddenly a hold label signs with them. Almost looks like Apple played a shrewd hand by 'backing down' so quickly...

 

[pocketscience]

And suddenly a hold label signs with them. Almost looks like Apple played a shrewd hand by 'backing down' so quickly...

Sure you can look it it that way, but to anyone else it looks like a multi billion dollar company almost got away with ripping a load of musicians off.

now, that little matter of Apple paying their tax bills. Gideon cant get through to Taylor as her iPhones on the blink.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Thing is it turned out great for them, they've got more Indy labels signed on and Taylo Swift is now promoting her new crap for the service...

 

[chandlerp]

One of my reasons to consider changing to Apple Music from Spotify disappeared today. AC/DC suddenly became available on Spotify. Spotify must have been shitting themselves and offered a good deal.

 

[elbows]

Botched launch on desktop due to Apple pointing people towards itunes download, but not actually having the version of itunes that supports apple music (12.2) available for download yet.

Assuming they actually get the new itunes out in the coming hours, I suspect most of the complaints will move on to be about the UI and a somewhat confusing and overlapping sets of features between some of the stuff Apple offered with itunes before and what they've just added. The 'legendary simplicity' of some Apple interfaces & concepts past is nowhere to be seen here. At least its not completely pointless like Ping was. I'm not surprised they've had another stab at the social media side of things again because what absolutely ensured Ping was a non-starter was the inability to actually listen to the music people were dribbling on about.

 

[editor]

The interface looks a right dog's dinner.

 

[elbows]

That bits actually ok, mostly because its a one time operation. The gimmick on that page is in the animation, which would grow old quickly if it were part of day-to-day navigation of the app.

The way the app confuses and sucks might not show up properly in screenshots either, it's early days for me and its a bit too warm to be engaging my brain properly but I think its the way you end up jumping around the app thats disconcerting as opposed to any particular screen.

 

[mwgdrwg]

Working brilliantly on my phone. Beats 1 from your very own London playing some quality tunes tonight too.

 

[mwgdrwg]

That interface pic is just the bit where you set your favourite genres, if you even want to. The rest of the interface is easily as good, if not better, than Spotify.

 

[chandlerp]

I had nothing but trouble with it last night. Not a single track played all the way through without stopping at least once. My connection was very fast (152mb broadband) and spotify/youtube/tunein/iplayer were having no issues.

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

Yeah my girlfriend complained on the skipping too.
The integration with Siri was ok.
She paid for the family thing, but I pointed out the amount of sharing that is required for that to work (I find it intrusive so I didn't want it), and she then changed her payment plan to single user no problem.
The availability of music was ok, searched for some obscure stuff was found ok, but missing some surprising omissions. She was not able to figure out how to see all tracks by an artist - or was that it, you only get a selection.
I tried setting it up on my macbook to check the 3 months free trial (I am quite happy with spotify though to be honest - no plans on moving), I needed Itunes 1.2.2 so was redirected to the download page on the apple site, where only 1.2.1 was offered. I have no need to stick it on my phone.
4/10 Would not use.

 

[editor]

Looks like Apple is stretching the definition of "live" radio:

Over and over while I've been listening this morning, the DJs have been declaring that they are doing a live show, even though it's actually a replay. There have also been lots of promotional ads declaring that Beats 1 is "broadcasting live" on Apple Music. This might not matter much if you're on the other side of the world and hearing it for the first time, but it's a lame experience for someone like me giving this station a chance to fulfill its promise of 24-hour radio.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/1/8876285/apple-beats-1-radio-replay-repeat-not-live

Who the fuck wants to listen to a global radio station is anyone's guess anyway.

And vile ads too: "Beats 1 is made possible by American Express, McDonalds and King.com""

 

[RedDragon]

How to switch off auto-renewal before the end of the free three months Independent

 

[editor]

How to switch off auto-renewal before the end of the free three months Independent

Auto renewal, eh? The sneaky, underhand fuckers. They'll ensnare loads of users that way.

 

[belboid]

Auto renewal, eh? The sneaky, underhand fuckers. They'll ensnare loads of users that way.

They were pretty clear that it did so when I tried it yesterday - and did even tell me immediately how I could turn it off. I think most people would expect it to auto renew these days, tho there are undoubtedly a fair few who would miss it.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Working brilliantly on my phone. Beats 1 from your very own London playing some quality tunes tonight too.

Surprised at Beats1 tbh, I've discovered three new artists in less than an hour on there. Can't remember the last time radio did that for me...finding myself wanting to listen to it. It has ads (McDonalds wtf?!) but they are so few and incidental it's no big deal. Also, finally DJs who know when to stfu!!

Not convinced by Connect. Just don't see the value in a world with established social media channels to connect with artists. If they allowed some interoperability (artists pulling in Instagram content etc) they'd be on to a winner. A walled garden really isn't the way to go here...

Adding to your music and making available for offline is as easy as Spotify.

Really like the For You section too, nicely curated.

Have to say it's nice to be able to have all my music in one place again, was seriously annoyed with jumping back and forth between my library and Spotify.

£14.99 for six users? Yes please! Me and other half pay £20 for our Spotify.

Verdict: it's not revolutionary but it is well executed, adds real value and finally solved the issue of split libraries. Spotify is fucked, going to let the three month trial run but if I'm as happy as I am today dumping Spotify and not looking back.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

They were pretty clear that it did so when I tried it yesterday - and did even tell me immediately how I could turn it off. I think most people would expect it to auto renew these days, tho there are undoubtedly a fair few who would miss it.

What the Ed won't tell you is Apple apps have had that for years oh and Spotify does auto renewal too. Hardly sneaky or underhand. Just normal business practice!

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

The issue I have with it is that I just can't see any reason to move from Spotify. I have no mp3 library anymore, everything I listen to is streamed. So unless Spotify suddenly loses a huge amount of labels/artists (which I can't see happening tbh) there's no reason to switch.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

The issue I have with it is that I just can't see any reason to move from Spotify. I have no mp3 library anymore, everything I listen to is streamed. So unless Spotify suddenly loses a huge amount of labels/artists (which I can't see happening tbh) there's no reason to switch.

Ah for me I had a massive music library sitting in iTunes and a growing library in Spotify. It was becoming a right pain to jump back and forth and led to a disjointed music experience (great tune, want to list to x next oh balls time to open up iTunes)...

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Funny how Spotify's payment system went down the day Apple Music launched and tons of people tried to cancel...?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/01/cancel-spotify-down_n_7706826.html

 

[editor]

The radio service is pretty much getting panned everywhere: Beats 1 - botched, lazy and uninspiring

 

[RedDragon]

Must admit BeatsOne has been taxing my insulin-pen, just too lovey-dovey sweet, perhaps there's a BeatsFour soon to be released with a daily soap featuring a family of beetroot growers?

 

[Kid_Eternity]

It needs more global DJs, that's it's big weakness at the moment. They need someone in Delhi and probably Hong Kong playing less western tracks.

They also need a DJ or two who like to play guitar based music.

 

[skyscraper101]

Haven't yet been arsed with BeatsOne. Think I'll stick with traditional radio for now. IN terms of Apple Music generally. I'm not really getting on with the interface. Spotify seems much more intuitive. I'll give it til at least as long as the free trial but I'm not all that enthused about it as of now.

 

[chandlerp]

Same here. Spotify is much the better interface.