According to Bloomberg:
Apple Inc. is planning sweeping changes to its year-old music streaming service after the first iteration of the product was met with tepid reviews and several executives brought in to revive the company’s music strategy departed.
Bloomberg also says:
Apple is altering the user interface of Apple Music to make it more intuitive to use, according to people familiar with the product who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. Apple also plans to better integrate its streaming and download businesses and expand its online radio service, the people said. The reboot is expected to be unveiled at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
As I’ve been saying since the release of iTunes 12, it seems as though the marketing department, rather than the engineers, are in control of iTunes. This extends to Apple Music, the iTunes Store, and all the other related services and interfaces.
I hope Apple can fix this. While Jimmy Iovine seems to be getting in the way, one can hope that Trent Reznor, now working for Apple, will bring the ideas of a musician and music lover back to iTunes. It’s time that iTunes benefits from the experience of people who do love music, not just those who want to sell it.
“It’s time that iTunes benefits from the experience of people who do love music, not just those who want to sell it.”
Great way to put it. I still feel Iike the iCloud music library technical issues outweigh the UI issues. The terrible song matching, metadata destruction, unreliable playback/downloading makes it unusable for me.
Yes.
“It’s time that iTunes benefits from the experience of people who do love music, not just those who want to sell it.”
Great way to put it. I still feel Iike the iCloud music library technical issues outweigh the UI issues. The terrible song matching, metadata destruction, unreliable playback/downloading makes it unusable for me.
Yes.
Kirk,
I do agree that the marketing department, not the engineers are in control of iTunes. Perhaps, what would be in the cards in the near future is to create ecosystems that are more pronounced and consistent with the direction the company wants to take.
The fact that Apple has over 1 billion accounts (the number may be 600-700 million given the amount of devices owned by a single person; I have two and another may have five), for Apple Music to not hit at least 50 or even 75 million subscribers is dismal to say it lightly. The company should approach music head-on and get rid of the iTunes branding forever. Yes, it’s a creation that Steve Jobs pioneered which led us to great products today, but I envision a complete name change.
Apple Music, Apple Music Store. These two places are the epicenter to Apple’s music endeavor. Want to buy a song? Head over to the Apple Music Store. Want to organize music? Apple Music player. This player is universal, on iOS, Mac, Android, Windows. They need to think outside the box when it comes to creating a better music experience. You had a piece yesterday regarding exclusives and what that does to the streaming music world from The Guardian. I don’t see Apple trying to make a better product until they look at the product from the outside looking in. They have to realize what hurts their business and what does it hurt their business. The streaming music business for Apple at least is not a profitable business. However, the reason why they’re making changes to this product is because this product is a sensual to their product sales. You connect the software with the hardware and that’s how you sell more of the product.
They’re not Spotify. Spotify is all product not hardware.
Kirk,
I do agree that the marketing department, not the engineers are in control of iTunes. Perhaps, what would be in the cards in the near future is to create ecosystems that are more pronounced and consistent with the direction the company wants to take.
The fact that Apple has over 1 billion accounts (the number may be 600-700 million given the amount of devices owned by a single person; I have two and another may have five), for Apple Music to not hit at least 50 or even 75 million subscribers is dismal to say it lightly. The company should approach music head-on and get rid of the iTunes branding forever. Yes, it’s a creation that Steve Jobs pioneered which led us to great products today, but I envision a complete name change.
Apple Music, Apple Music Store. These two places are the epicenter to Apple’s music endeavor. Want to buy a song? Head over to the Apple Music Store. Want to organize music? Apple Music player. This player is universal, on iOS, Mac, Android, Windows. They need to think outside the box when it comes to creating a better music experience. You had a piece yesterday regarding exclusives and what that does to the streaming music world from The Guardian. I don’t see Apple trying to make a better product until they look at the product from the outside looking in. They have to realize what hurts their business and what does it hurt their business. The streaming music business for Apple at least is not a profitable business. However, the reason why they’re making changes to this product is because this product is a sensual to their product sales. You connect the software with the hardware and that’s how you sell more of the product.
They’re not Spotify. Spotify is all product not hardware.
Hopefully, Trent Reznor is not just doodling with the Apple Music app, but also chipping in his two cents with regard to Garageband and Logic.
Hopefully, Trent Reznor is not just doodling with the Apple Music app, but also chipping in his two cents with regard to Garageband and Logic.
Terrible product. No way to add a song in an online playlist to play it from other devices. If they would fix this (and the messing up of the tags of already-purchased music) I would probably consider giving it one more try.
Terrible product. No way to add a song in an online playlist to play it from other devices. If they would fix this (and the messing up of the tags of already-purchased music) I would probably consider giving it one more try.