How to get Beats Music's 'The Sentence' back on Apple Music
While Apple has killed the user interface for The Sentence --?Beats Music's flagship on-demand playlist creation feature --?it hasn't removed the functionality from Apple Music entirely. AppleInsider shows you where it's hiding.
The Sentence becomes Activities Playlists in Apple Music. Boo.
We know that the plural of anecdote is not data, but our experience suggests that The Sentence was probably a significant user retention driver for Beats Music. Using a simulated natural-language interface, one could tell Beats what they were doing --?and with whom --?and The Sentence would cough up a seemingly made-to-order playlist.
Whether you were "at the gym," "on the subway," or even "in a field" with your "entourage" or "the paparazzi," you could let Beats know that you felt like "making bad choices" or "romancing" to nearly any genre and expect a fairly well-conceived set to come out of the other side. We were often "out and about" and felt like "jetsetting" with ourselves to hip-hop; this resulted in some great music despite the occasional 2 Chainz overdose.
With the release of Apple Music and the consequential sunsetting of its forebear, The Sentence is no more, but its spirit lives on as "Activities."
Open Apple Music on any supported device, then tap the New tab. Scroll down (entirely too far) until you see Activities Playlists, then tap through --?this is where The Sentence's soul now dwells.
Apple's options range from the mundane to the fantastic. They've crafted playlists for moments from Breaking Up to Waking Up, including sentimental favorites like Getting It On.
Unfortunately, The Sentence's superficial "smarts" are gone, replaced instead by a presumably curated grouping of presumably curated playlists. You can no longer make bad choices with your boo in the club, but you can throw on some Baby Makin' Music when you get home.
The Sentence becomes Activities Playlists in Apple Music. Boo.
We know that the plural of anecdote is not data, but our experience suggests that The Sentence was probably a significant user retention driver for Beats Music. Using a simulated natural-language interface, one could tell Beats what they were doing --?and with whom --?and The Sentence would cough up a seemingly made-to-order playlist.
Whether you were "at the gym," "on the subway," or even "in a field" with your "entourage" or "the paparazzi," you could let Beats know that you felt like "making bad choices" or "romancing" to nearly any genre and expect a fairly well-conceived set to come out of the other side. We were often "out and about" and felt like "jetsetting" with ourselves to hip-hop; this resulted in some great music despite the occasional 2 Chainz overdose.
With the release of Apple Music and the consequential sunsetting of its forebear, The Sentence is no more, but its spirit lives on as "Activities."
Open Apple Music on any supported device, then tap the New tab. Scroll down (entirely too far) until you see Activities Playlists, then tap through --?this is where The Sentence's soul now dwells.
Apple's options range from the mundane to the fantastic. They've crafted playlists for moments from Breaking Up to Waking Up, including sentimental favorites like Getting It On.
Unfortunately, The Sentence's superficial "smarts" are gone, replaced instead by a presumably curated grouping of presumably curated playlists. You can no longer make bad choices with your boo in the club, but you can throw on some Baby Makin' Music when you get home.
Comments
"The sentence" was the worst feature of Beats IMO. It was a poor attempt at Songza's "It's Friday morning" on "Summer break" "lounging by the pool". It had way too many unrelated variables and even when you tried to get super specific with it and do something like "I'm in a field" "BBQing" with "Aliens" listening to "alternative" you'd be treated to something crappy like Florence and the machine. Never worked and it always killed the party.
" play the songs Steve and I like "
A job for Siri of course. They have to see the cool factor in this, assuming they get it to work right. I bet they are at least toying with it.
Um...
SiriusXM brah.
Delighted to hear that it continues to exist, if unfortunately in a simplified form.
"...replaced instead by a presumably curated grouping of presumably curated playlists."
Um...
What's wrong with that? I don't remember Apple mentioning how it chooses songs for playlists you're supposed to be having sex to...
Ah, the good old days of class are definitely long gone.
Is it me or do they have too many pointless and repetitive activities? What's the difference between Chilling Out and Kicking Back?