Spotify debuts 'Daily Mix' to compete with Apple Music's 'For You'
Spotify on Tuesday debuted a feature called the Daily Mix, offering tailored playlists apparently meant to challenge the "For You" content on Apple Music.
Daily Mix material will be updated every 24 hours, and like Discover Weekly and Release Radar, feature tracks selected by algorithm, according to The Verge. Unlike those sections the Daily Mix is less geared toward finding new content, and more about ensuring that each track is something a person will enjoy.
In fact, people should get between one and six Daily Mix playlists per day, depending on genre tastes and specific habits. While each will often have an overriding genre, songs from different genres may be interwoven as long as they flow together. Appropriately, each playlist is identified by a mosaic of album covers and a list of artists.
Spotify won't completely refresh the content each day, but instead just tweak tracks or occasionally replace a playlist.
Apple Music's "For You" section is likewise updated daily, and offers an assortment of playlists and albums to choose from.
Although Spotify is the world's biggest on-demand music service, with 40 million paid subscribers and many more on its ad-based tier, it has been looking to solidify that position given Apple Music's rapid growth. Still less than two years old, the latter is already over 17 million subscribers.
Daily Mix material will be updated every 24 hours, and like Discover Weekly and Release Radar, feature tracks selected by algorithm, according to The Verge. Unlike those sections the Daily Mix is less geared toward finding new content, and more about ensuring that each track is something a person will enjoy.
In fact, people should get between one and six Daily Mix playlists per day, depending on genre tastes and specific habits. While each will often have an overriding genre, songs from different genres may be interwoven as long as they flow together. Appropriately, each playlist is identified by a mosaic of album covers and a list of artists.
Spotify won't completely refresh the content each day, but instead just tweak tracks or occasionally replace a playlist.
Apple Music's "For You" section is likewise updated daily, and offers an assortment of playlists and albums to choose from.
Although Spotify is the world's biggest on-demand music service, with 40 million paid subscribers and many more on its ad-based tier, it has been looking to solidify that position given Apple Music's rapid growth. Still less than two years old, the latter is already over 17 million subscribers.
Comments
On on that basis I would never ever consider even looking at nor promoting it as an option to friends.
if Apple Music wants to leave Spotify in the dust, it's so easy. Uses Amazon strategy. Sell iCloud Drive unlimited for $60 a year (or even $80) and let people upload their own iTunes library then use Apple Music to stream it. (Likewise for videos with Video app)
I already have it on my MacBookPro and my iPhone. With a 128Gb iPhone and my iTunes library only 38Gb I have plenty of space for other stuff.
Why would I use my valuable (i.e. potentially costly) 3G/4G bandwidth to stream musing to a device that errrrrrr has the space for it anyway?
I'm off on a trip next week to Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The roaming charges will be huge (if I can get a signal in the parts of Patagonia where I'm going)
Please put this confused old git out of their misery and explain in simple terms why I'd ever considering doing this?
iTunes library for music lovers is sacred. One with all the tags and details owners meticulously and carefully put in, with all their favourite playlists. Most are lossless and very large library. Mine is ~ 300 GB.
To have access to this everywhere in addition to all the new music is the best of both worlds.
And it's not only music though. You let people upload their files to your cloud, you have locked these people in. No one want to upload same files again and again. They will stick to the one they choose for as long as there's no major problem.
IMHO, the key to your statement is 'all the new music'.
Again IMHO, 99.99% of Music released today is just noise for more than 50% of the population. I have recordings (taken from Vinyl) that go back to the mid 1950's. Very little of what I am remotely interested in was released (as apposed to re-mastering) since the Millenium.
The artists that I want to listen are not releasing new music very often. I can live with missing a few tunes for a month or so.
Streaming (and therefore paying for each bit) songs that I already have in my collection is IMHO wrong, totally wrong. I've paid for the music. I have the music so why on earth would I want to pay a carrier (and Apple Music) to get the sound sent to me again?
As for your music library. Mine is around that size lossless. I have a lossless library for playing through my HiFi system. Not for travelling around. Your ears probably won't notice the difference. Mine certainly won't but they are damaged from playing Drums in an amateur rock band for 30+ years.
I still am not persuaded by the need for any streaming service where I have to pay for the music and for the transmission. I can get that for free off the Radio.
I think Apple should look at some bundling of their iCloud services with Apple Music to entice new subscriptions. 500GB storage + Apple Music for $11.99/mo, for example. Include the iTunes Match with Apple Music subscription, etc.
But your idea is more realistic though.
This is exactly what iTunes Match is and that is only $24.99 a year. iTunes Match is part of Apple Music already so if you subscribe to Apple Music you can already upload (if song isn't already in Apple's Music Library) your iTunes library and stream it to your phone and other devices.
Can you provide a list of all this music you couldn't find?