I actually agree with some of your concerns (and the ones expressed by some of the market commentators). There really might be something there. The history of Apple and networked products is not the greatest.
Someone like Don Melton trashing Apple Music should be a wake up call for Apple. He wasn't some grunt at Apple. He ran the Safari team. He interacted with Steve Jobs. His biggest complaint about Apple Music is that it's conceptually flawed and confusing. He called it "mindnumbingly bad". One thing he mentioned was the hearts. Ok I heart something but what does that mean? It doesn't create a playlist or favorites so what does it do? It's not clear at all that tapping the heart helps to better curate the 'for you' section. At the same time no one is going to remember everything they hearted so having someplace where you could see that (and adjust if you hearted something by mistake) would be helpful.
For me two mistakes were 1) Apple didn't take this opportunity to really rebuild iTunes from the ground up. Maybe it's so complex at this point that it's impossible but bolting on Apple Music isn't going to make rebuilding any easier down the road. 2) Apple should have had a beta period and should have had people they could trust not to leak putting the service through its paces; testing out the functionality, the UI/UX, iTunes Match, iCloud Music Library etc. Apple did a beta for Photos, why not music?
All very well said. Love my iPhone, love my girlfriends new Macbook Pro, love most of Apple's hardware. Not liking Apple Music one bit. My joy for listening to music has gone down strictly because of the app.
They forgot the directive of "I should be able to get to my music in three [taps]." It's a nightmare to navigate. The biggest annoyance is the inability to easily see what's on device and what's in the cloud.
Someone like Don Melton trashing Apple Music should be a wake up call for Apple. He wasn't some grunt at Apple. He ran the Safari team. He interacted with Steve Jobs. His biggest complaint about Apple Music is that it's conceptually flawed and confusing. He called it "mindnumbingly bad". One thing he mentioned was the hearts. Ok I heart something but what does that mean? It doesn't create a playlist or favorites so what does it do? It's not clear at all that tapping the heart helps to better curate the 'for you' section. At the same time no one is going to remember everything they hearted so having someplace where you could see that (and adjust if you hearted something by mistake) would be helpful.
For me two mistakes were 1) Apple didn't take this opportunity to really rebuild iTunes from the ground up. Maybe it's so complex at this point that it's impossible but bolting on Apple Music isn't going to make rebuilding any easier down the road. 2) Apple should have had a beta period and should have had people they could trust not to leak putting the service through its paces; testing out the functionality, the UI/UX, iTunes Match, iCloud Music Library etc. Apple did a beta for Photos, why not music?
I think you may have posted it last year, but at WWDC 2014 (maybe even 2013) some Apple engineers were heard discussing iTunes, and the fact that it's basically unfixable at this point. They need to just pull a Photos and trash iTunes completely.
They forgot the directive of "I should be able to get to my music in three [taps]." It's a nightmare to navigate. The biggest annoyance is the inability to easily see what's on device and what's in the cloud.
Yep. Eddy Cue and Jeff Robbin should listen to this Don Melton podcast. Pretty brutal but it needs to be said.
Why would they see any impact now? Everyone is getting Apple Music for free right now, so I would bet people are going to play out the entire trial before making any decisions. Once they start getting charged for Apple Music they will have to make a choice which service they want to keep. At that point somebody will definitely see an impact.
Also Apple Music stopped playing new songs for me after a week of use. I can only play whatever I listened to in the first week, every new song now redirects me to "Come play with us... Join Apple music". (And when I click join nothing happens of course)
I think Apple has a real PR issue with Apple Music right now. Jim Dalrymple called it a "nightmare" and said he was done with it and going back to Spotify. He shared his frustrations with Kirk McElhern on Kirk's podcast The Committed. Both Dalrymple and McElhern (who have large music libraries) said they would have gladly beta tested Apple Music (and knowing who they are they would have done it without leaking anything). Was there anyone outside of Apple HQ that tested this app/service?
Don Melton, who was a software director at Apple (he was tasked with creating Safari and ran the safari team for many years) did not mince words about Apple Music on his latest podcast. On this same podcast Serenity Caldwell who writes for iMore shared some of her frustrations around iTunes Match and iCloud Music library and how confusing it all is. She said she had to create a family sharing FAQ out of whole cloth because Apple didn't have one. Similar to The Committed podcast the question comes up wondering why Apple didn't have a beta like they did with Photos.
This morning I was watching CNBC talk about Pandora's results and both Jon Fortt and Kara Swisher dinged Apple Music and Apple Services in general. Kara said she just signed for Spotify premium because Apple Music was too confusing and needs a lot of work. Jon Fortt said he thinks Apple tried to cram too much into one app. This is NOT wha Apple wants people talking about. The good parts of Apple Music are being overshadowed right now. It almost seems like Apple Music was designed for people that have very little purchased music or large libraries and as long as those people are happy that's all Apple cares about.
Scott Foratall took the fall for Apple maps. When is Eddy Cue held to account for the state of Apple services? I've said before and I'll say it again, I think Apple needs a dedicated SVP reporting to Tim Cook for cloud services. Eddy Cue's role right now is a mishmash of things that don't neatly fit into Apple's other functions. But it's too much and it seems Iike he might be a bit in over his head. As Benedict Evans tweeted:
Time for Tim to poach a top notch cloud executive from Google, Amazon or Microsoft and have them oversee and improve Apple's cloud services.
Flame away!
The Jim Dalrymple criticisms of Apple Music were damning and uncharacteristically brutal, especially those made on his blog and Twitter account. I consider "The Beard" one of Apple's strongest supporters, so you KNOW Apple has really blown it on this one.
Hmmm...You guys are unbelievable sometimes and never look at that the big picture.
- What did you expect this guy to say. All empires try to talk it up before they fall. - ? Music is only on Apple devices right now, while Pandora is on everything. What's going to happen once the Android people gets it free this fall. At least a small percentage will sign up after the free trial. A small percentage means millions in 100 countries and counting. - I also agree that once the trial is over some people will cancel other services.
I don't understand how people are confused about the service and how it works. It's really not that complicated and I rather everything be in one app. I hate going to several apps for several things (peoples normal iTunes complaint).
Gotta go, or I could make this post 10 pages long.
PS: All these recent government investigations is coming from none other than competitors. They are afraid and they should be.
Hmmm...You guys are unbelievable sometimes and never look at that the big picture.
- What did you expect this guy to say. All empires try to talk it up before they fall.
- ? Music is only on Apple devices right now, while Pandora is on everything. What's going to happen once the Android people gets it free this fall. At least a small percentage will sign up after the free trial. A small percentage means millions in 100 countries and counting.
- I also agree that once the trial is over some people will cancel other services.
I don't understand how people are confused about the service and how it works. It's really not that complicated and I rather everything be in one app. I hate going to several apps for several things (peoples normal iTunes complaint).
Gotta go, or I could make this post 10 pages long.
PS: All these recent government investigations is coming from none other than competitors. They are afraid and they should be.
Have a link? Podcasts in iOS 9 is still broken, I can't search for new ones.
EDIT: Nevermind, found it.
Haha, I sent a tweet to Rene Ritchie a week or two ago saying ellipses are the new hamburgers and he just said that same thing on this podcast (which Serenity Caldwell and Don Melton agreed with). Which is so interesting because Mike Stern, who is a UX evangelist at Apple, spoke out against the hamburger during a WWDC session last year. He likened it to a drawer that gets filled with junk. That's what I think about the ellipses in Apple Music. Obviously Stern has nothing to do with the iTunes team that built Apple Music.
The Jim Dalrymple criticisms of Apple Music were damning and uncharacteristically brutal, especially those made on his blog and Twitter account. I consider "The Beard" one of Apple's strongest supporters, so you KNOW Apple has really blown it on this one.
I don't know if Eddy Cue personally follows his Twitter account but I've tweeted him links to these podcasts. He needs to hear this stuff. I'm sure Dalrymple's post created ripples inside Apple HQ. Especially considering last month Phil Schiller tweeted Jim's positive review of Apple Watch saying "Jim Rocks!"
I don't know if Eddy Cue personally follows his Twitter account but I've tweeted him links to these podcasts. He needs to hear this stuff. I'm sure Dalrymple's post created ripples inside Apple HQ. Especially considering last month Phil Schiller tweeted Jim's positive review of Apple Watch saying "Jim Rocks!"
The new Apple has at least led to the supporting community feeling the ability to be more outspoken. This will be painful for Apple in the short term, better for them in the long term if they're willing to listen.
Pandora Is a member of the stock exchange. Up 15.7% at time of posting. They cant just say it if not true.
If you think they can, Then I'm sure Apple thinks they can as well when they post there figures. Hell, all company's can post what ever they want right ?
The new Apple has at least led to the supporting community feeling the ability to be more outspoken. This will be painful for Apple in the short term, better for them in the long term if they're willing to listen.
Yep. What's sad is it seems that things people are praising Apple music for are those things that are not unique to that service. Rene Ritchie loves that he cab listen to whatever he wants on demand. Um, hello, that's not unique to Apple Music. I've been doing that on Spotify for over a year.
I like owning my music, so this service is not for me. But I knew there would be problems. And seeing that purchased non-DRM tracks got replaced with DRM tracks (with a fix ex post facto), terrified me sufficiently to never try it. Dalrymple's lament is damning, especially with his 4700 or so tracks that he lost forever?? Apple is screwing up here, badly. This does not excite me, as a longtime shareholder.
Comments
I also notice "Radio" is in the middle when maybe it should be "My Music" instead. Seems they're maybe pushing Radio a bit too much.
[IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/61229/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
Also this menu is awkward as well.
"Share Song" should just be "Share".
And "Add to a Playlist" should just be "Add to Playlist".
Little details like this all add up and matter.
Someone like Don Melton trashing Apple Music should be a wake up call for Apple. He wasn't some grunt at Apple. He ran the Safari team. He interacted with Steve Jobs. His biggest complaint about Apple Music is that it's conceptually flawed and confusing. He called it "mindnumbingly bad". One thing he mentioned was the hearts. Ok I heart something but what does that mean? It doesn't create a playlist or favorites so what does it do? It's not clear at all that tapping the heart helps to better curate the 'for you' section. At the same time no one is going to remember everything they hearted so having someplace where you could see that (and adjust if you hearted something by mistake) would be helpful.
For me two mistakes were 1) Apple didn't take this opportunity to really rebuild iTunes from the ground up. Maybe it's so complex at this point that it's impossible but bolting on Apple Music isn't going to make rebuilding any easier down the road. 2) Apple should have had a beta period and should have had people they could trust not to leak putting the service through its paces; testing out the functionality, the UI/UX, iTunes Match, iCloud Music Library etc. Apple did a beta for Photos, why not music?
All very well said. Love my iPhone, love my girlfriends new Macbook Pro, love most of Apple's hardware. Not liking Apple Music one bit. My joy for listening to music has gone down strictly because of the app.
They forgot the directive of "I should be able to get to my music in three [taps]." It's a nightmare to navigate. The biggest annoyance is the inability to easily see what's on device and what's in the cloud.
Did you listen to Don Melton's podcast? I respect his opinion considering the position he had at Apple.
Someone like Don Melton trashing Apple Music should be a wake up call for Apple. He wasn't some grunt at Apple. He ran the Safari team. He interacted with Steve Jobs. His biggest complaint about Apple Music is that it's conceptually flawed and confusing. He called it "mindnumbingly bad". One thing he mentioned was the hearts. Ok I heart something but what does that mean? It doesn't create a playlist or favorites so what does it do? It's not clear at all that tapping the heart helps to better curate the 'for you' section. At the same time no one is going to remember everything they hearted so having someplace where you could see that (and adjust if you hearted something by mistake) would be helpful.
For me two mistakes were 1) Apple didn't take this opportunity to really rebuild iTunes from the ground up. Maybe it's so complex at this point that it's impossible but bolting on Apple Music isn't going to make rebuilding any easier down the road. 2) Apple should have had a beta period and should have had people they could trust not to leak putting the service through its paces; testing out the functionality, the UI/UX, iTunes Match, iCloud Music Library etc. Apple did a beta for Photos, why not music?
I think you may have posted it last year, but at WWDC 2014 (maybe even 2013) some Apple engineers were heard discussing iTunes, and the fact that it's basically unfixable at this point. They need to just pull a Photos and trash iTunes completely.
Yep. Eddy Cue and Jeff Robbin should listen to this Don Melton podcast. Pretty brutal but it needs to be said.
The fact so few people have complaints about Apple Music, on here, tells me its a success.
When people like this call it disaster, we can call it failure.
http://www.loopinsight.com/2015/07/22/apple-music-is-a-nightmare-and-im-done-with-it/
Also Apple Music stopped playing new songs for me after a week of use. I can only play whatever I listened to in the first week, every new song now redirects me to "Come play with us... Join Apple music". (And when I click join nothing happens of course)
Yep. Eddy Cue and Jeff Robbin should listen to this Don Melton podcast. Pretty brutal but it needs to be said.
Have a link? Podcasts in iOS 9 is still broken, I can't search for new ones.
EDIT: Nevermind, found it.
The Jim Dalrymple criticisms of Apple Music were damning and uncharacteristically brutal, especially those made on his blog and Twitter account. I consider "The Beard" one of Apple's strongest supporters, so you KNOW Apple has really blown it on this one.
I haven't tried Apple Music and have no intentions to try it.
- What did you expect this guy to say. All empires try to talk it up before they fall.
- ? Music is only on Apple devices right now, while Pandora is on everything. What's going to happen once the Android people gets it free this fall. At least a small percentage will sign up after the free trial. A small percentage means millions in 100 countries and counting.
- I also agree that once the trial is over some people will cancel other services.
I don't understand how people are confused about the service and how it works. It's really not that complicated and I rather everything be in one app. I hate going to several apps for several things (peoples normal iTunes complaint).
Gotta go, or I could make this post 10 pages long.
PS: All these recent government investigations is coming from none other than competitors. They are afraid and they should be.
Hmmm...You guys are unbelievable sometimes and never look at that the big picture.
- What did you expect this guy to say. All empires try to talk it up before they fall.
- ? Music is only on Apple devices right now, while Pandora is on everything. What's going to happen once the Android people gets it free this fall. At least a small percentage will sign up after the free trial. A small percentage means millions in 100 countries and counting.
- I also agree that once the trial is over some people will cancel other services.
I don't understand how people are confused about the service and how it works. It's really not that complicated and I rather everything be in one app. I hate going to several apps for several things (peoples normal iTunes complaint).
Gotta go, or I could make this post 10 pages long.
PS: All these recent government investigations is coming from none other than competitors. They are afraid and they should be.
Android doesn't get the free trial option.
Haha, I sent a tweet to Rene Ritchie a week or two ago saying ellipses are the new hamburgers and he just said that same thing on this podcast (which Serenity Caldwell and Don Melton agreed with). Which is so interesting because Mike Stern, who is a UX evangelist at Apple, spoke out against the hamburger during a WWDC session last year. He likened it to a drawer that gets filled with junk. That's what I think about the ellipses in Apple Music. Obviously Stern has nothing to do with the iTunes team that built Apple Music.
I don't know if Eddy Cue personally follows his Twitter account but I've tweeted him links to these podcasts. He needs to hear this stuff. I'm sure Dalrymple's post created ripples inside Apple HQ. Especially considering last month Phil Schiller tweeted Jim's positive review of Apple Watch saying "Jim Rocks!"
I don't know if Eddy Cue personally follows his Twitter account but I've tweeted him links to these podcasts. He needs to hear this stuff. I'm sure Dalrymple's post created ripples inside Apple HQ. Especially considering last month Phil Schiller tweeted Jim's positive review of Apple Watch saying "Jim Rocks!"
The new Apple has at least led to the supporting community feeling the ability to be more outspoken. This will be painful for Apple in the short term, better for them in the long term if they're willing to listen.
Pandora Is a member of the stock exchange. Up 15.7% at time of posting. They cant just say it if not true.
If you think they can, Then I'm sure Apple thinks they can as well when they post there figures. Hell, all company's can post what ever they want right ?
Yep. What's sad is it seems that things people are praising Apple music for are those things that are not unique to that service. Rene Ritchie loves that he cab listen to whatever he wants on demand. Um, hello, that's not unique to Apple Music. I've been doing that on Spotify for over a year.
I like owning my music, so this service is not for me. But I knew there would be problems. And seeing that purchased non-DRM tracks got replaced with DRM tracks (with a fix ex post facto), terrified me sufficiently to never try it. Dalrymple's lament is damning, especially with his 4700 or so tracks that he lost forever?? Apple is screwing up here, badly. This does not excite me, as a longtime shareholder.