Ping 2.0? Apple Music revamp rumored to downplay Connect social network feature

AppleInsider · May 6, 2016 4:09PM

Apple's struggles with social networking continue, as its mostly-ignored artist Connect feature is said to be set for a "demotion" in the upcoming revamp of Apple Music in iOS 10.

With the next-generation iOS 10 update, Apple Music Connect will no longer be featured among the parent menus at the bottom of the Music app, according to 9to5Mac. Instead, Connect could become more difficult to find within the "For You" recommendations tab.

In addition to being hidden further within the Music app, the report suggested that there will be no new features added to Apple Music Connect.

The apparent slow demise of Connect mirrors Apple's previous attempt at a music-related social networking service, Ping, which it introduced with iTunes 10 back in 2010. Ping lasted just two years before Apple killed the project, ending its efforts to promote music discovery through a proprietary medium.

Unlike Ping, which allowed individual users to share music with friends, Connect focuses on artists, intending to allow them to keep in touch with fans by sharing updates and tracks. Users can automatically follow artists on Connect when they add songs to their music library.

Apple Music Connect launched as part of iOS 8.4 last summer, earning a spot as a parent menu alongside My Music, Playlists and Radio. Since its launch, Apple has offered users a roundabout way to remove Connect from the Music app, if they so choose.

Apple is apparently working on a major overhaul for the Apple Music streaming subscription service, expected to be unveiled at this June's Worldwide Developers Conference. It's said that Apple is looking to update its Music app for iOS with a more intuitive user interface, responding to complaints from users who have been confused by the integration of Apple Music into traditional music libraries from iTunes.

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off ">on June 13. In addition to a revamp for Apple Music, the next-generation versions of iOS, OS X, tvOS and watchOS are also expected to be announced.

roxsocks · May 6, 2016 4:18PM

Yea, connect is a good idea but it didn't go far enough. I can see what the artists are up to if they post, but that's it. I can do that on Google. What Connect needs is a way to interact with other fans. It makes little difference to just post stuff that is ignored by everyone. It would be need to get discussions going because no artists is going to hop on Connect to do an impromptu AMA.

thrang · May 6, 2016 4:20PM

Buy Twitter already - Twitter along cant monetize very well. It can fit in Apple's larger ecosystem, and can form the basis for future development to combat Facebook in the future. You could do some interesting things with integration like that...including selecting your favorite twitter users and integrating conversations as Messages...comments from Apple Music, either manual, or automatic...not that I give a shit, but I think many young'uns might find it cool...

deadpool · May 6, 2016 4:25PM

What they need to do is to have Connect aggregate from other social media sites, make it a one stop source for tweets, instagrams, etc. They could then add some "premium" features unique to connect. This would lower the barrier for artists to not to have to support "yet another social media channel", be more convenient for users to track the goings on of their favorite stars, and still make it possible for someone to do something creative with connect. Sometimes I think that the folks running Music/iTunes are so afraid of messing up their cash cow that they are myopic about coming up with unique value added (almost like Browett taking over retail and becoming so laser focused on efficiency he forgot about the experience).

levi · May 6, 2016 4:39PM

Though I'm sure Apple had bigger plans for this, I don't really see the utility of this. There's plenty of opportunity for discovery through the For You, New and Radio options. I understand Spotify has some ability for users to share playlists. Why can't Apple just build this functionality in?

cali · May 6, 2016 4:47PM

Either revamp the hell out of it or remove it. What's the point in burying it deeper and making AppleMusic even more complicated and Connect even less appealing for artists?

thrang said:

Buy Twitter already - Twitter along cant monetize very well. It can fit in Apple's larger ecosystem, and can form the basis for future development to combat Facebook in the future. You could do some interesting things with integration like that...including selecting your favorite twitter users and integrating conversations as Messages...comments from Apple Music, either manual, or automatic...not that I give a shit, but I think many young'uns might find it cool...

I don't think Apple wants to step on Facebook's toes. They were on good terms last I heard.

edited May 2016

rcfa · May 6, 2016 5:00PM

Frankly all the social media hype reminds me of the CB radio craze in the 70s and early 80s.
No value added other than for advertisers.
How many more stupid kitty memes on Facebook can anyone endure before realizing they are missing real life as they stare on their stupid screens?

Apple could be a trend setter by divorcing themselves from social media entirely "consider it a 3rd party opportunity", and instead focus on P2P simplified, bring cloud computing home (IPv6, slightly beefed up AppleTV with encrypted cloud backup would do the trick). Of course, that would take balls, and those have gone missing with Steve; if today were the introduction of the iPhone, I'm sure they'd be working with Adobe on mobileFlash, too; instead of calling Flash out as the pile of crap it always was.

Facebook etc. are the AOL of our time. Open standards that produce real value endure, the rest become Fad 3.0...

edited May 2016

eightzero · May 6, 2016 5:11PM

rcfa said:

Frankly all the social media hype reminds me of the CB radio craze in the 70s and early 80s.
No value added other than for advertisers.
How many more stupid kitty memes on Facebook can anyone endure before realizing they are missing real life as they stare on their stupid screens?

Apple could be a trend setter by divorcing themselves from social media entirely "consider it a 3rd party opportunity", and instead focus on P2P simplified, bring cloud computing home (IPv6, slightly beefed up AppleTV with encrypted cloud backup would do the trick). Of course, that would take balls, and those have gone missing with Steve; if today were the introduction of the iPhone, I'm sure they'd be working with Adobe on mobileFlash, too; instead of calling Flash out as the pile of crap it always was.

Facebook etc. are the AOL of our time. Open standards that produce real value endure, the rest become Fad 3.0...

There's good money in fads.Consumers pay money for that which they perceive as value. That you disagree with their choices seems...well...valueless to me.

palegolas · May 6, 2016 5:18PM

If artists instead had total, and instantaneous control of the distribution of their tracks. For instance: "Post this crazy track I just made, and make it available at Apple Music, SoundCloud, but not iTunes. And tweet and instagram about it." next month.. "Post this EP I just made on ALL networks."
Also if artists could stream performances live, hassle free, no questions asked, no mysterious Apple registration process. Also allow in-app tickets. Then when it's done, post the stream at the user's platform of choice.

There's a lot of things to solve for musical artists. Connect didn't really solve anything.

volcan · May 6, 2016 5:18PM

rcfa said:

Frankly all the social media hype reminds me of the CB radio craze in the 70s and early 80s.
[...]
Facebook etc. are the AOL of our time.

Now get off my lawn!

spice-boy · May 6, 2016 5:19PM

I'm a big music lover that's why I could care less about Connect, Ping, or any other distraction supposedly adding value to music.

dick applebaum · May 6, 2016 5:21PM

eightzero said:

rcfa said:

Frankly all the social media hype reminds me of the CB radio craze in the 70s and early 80s.
No value added other than for advertisers.
How many more stupid kitty memes on Facebook can anyone endure before realizing they are missing real life as they stare on their stupid screens?

Apple could be a trend setter by divorcing themselves from social media entirely "consider it a 3rd party opportunity", and instead focus on P2P simplified, bring cloud computing home (IPv6, slightly beefed up AppleTV with encrypted cloud backup would do the trick). Of course, that would take balls, and those have gone missing with Steve; if today were the introduction of the iPhone, I'm sure they'd be working with Adobe on mobileFlash, too; instead of calling Flash out as the pile of crap it always was.

Facebook etc. are the AOL of our time. Open standards that produce real value endure, the rest become Fad 3.0...

There's good money in fads.Consumers pay money for that which they perceive as value. That you disagree with their choices seems...well...valueless to me.

Apple could be working on a capability that could send social media (and more) to the next level ... Hopefully we'll see it announced at WWDC.

lord amhran · May 6, 2016 6:02PM

Apple has never gotten services right and this is another prime example. Whether it's Cue's doing or not I think something major needs to happen at Apple for them take services seriously.

bitmod · May 6, 2016 6:26PM

sog35 said:

lord amhran said:

Apple has never gotten services right and this is another prime example. Whether it's Cue's doing or not I think something major needs to happen at Apple for them take services seriously.

Well it starts from the top. The very top.

All companies goes in stages.

Stage 1 - innovation - Steve Jobs
Stage 2 - growth and expansion - Tim Cook
Stage 3. - monetization of user base - ????

IMO, Tim Cook is not a services guy. Most people working at Apple are not. That's why I want a new CEO at Apple. A CEO with a strong background in services. Cue should be out. Apple needs to hire CEO level guys for advertising, social, artificial intellegence, and iCloud. The hardware division and iOS is doing great. The entire services executives need to be fired and replaced.

The app store was a good step forward in locking in services.
Apple's problem is they get too greedy in regards to services. 30% on everything vs Google and everyone else free.
Eventually, your going to bleed what market-share you have as adoption in free takes hold.

I agree with your new CEO sentiment.

danox · May 6, 2016 6:51PM

sog35 said:

bitmod said:

The app store was a good step forward in locking in services.
Apple's problem is they get too greedy in regards to services. 30% on everything vs Google and everyone else free.
Eventually, your going to bleed what market-share you have as adoption in free takes hold.

I agree with your new CEO sentiment.

Yup. 30% is to high for many Apps/Services.

Apple needs to fire Tim Cook.

Facebook is worth almost as much as Apple right now.
Facebook is worth $321 billion taking out cash.
Apple is worth $343 billion taking out cash.

That is absolutely PATHETIC.
Apple makes 13x more profits than Facebook and they have the same value. (Apple $53 billion profits, Facebook $4 billion)
WTF.

No they don't

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=apple+AMAZON+FACEBOOK+profit+2007-2015

dick applebaum · May 6, 2016 6:56PM

Mmm ...

Seems to me that Apple needs to find a way to make a profit from users of Facebook and other social media ...

bobschlob · May 6, 2016 7:06PM

One small step for Apple; One giant leap for mankind.

edited May 2016

gatorguy · May 6, 2016 7:13PM

sog35 said:

dick applebaum said:

Mmm ...

Seems to me that Apple needs to find a way to make a profit from users of Facebook and other social media ...

Exactly.

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, are all laughing to the bank.
They are all making BILLIONS on the backs of iOS users. Without iOS users these companies would die on the vine.

Its time for Apple to play hardball and get a better chunk of the pie.

Because $250B laying around just ain't enough. . . More! More! Don't stop until Apple is the last standing and controls it all! 90% of the profits just isn't good enough. Fire Tim if he can't take 100%!

Does that about sum it up?

edited May 2016

singularity · May 6, 2016 7:15PM

sog35 said:

dick applebaum said:

Mmm ...

Seems to me that Apple needs to find a way to make a profit from users of Facebook and other social media ...

Exactly.

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, are all laughing to the bank.
They are all making BILLIONS on the backs of iOS users. Without iOS users these companies would die on the vine.

Its time for Apple to play hardball and get a better chunk of the pie.

So you are suggesting Apple threaten to ban these services unless they hand over huge chunks of their revenues? Seems a quick way to the courts and bank breaking fines.
You want Apple customers to become the product? Become just like Google and FB?
What reality are you living in?

rogifan_new · May 6, 2016 7:17PM

sog35 said:

thrang said:

Buy Twitter already - Twitter along cant monetize very well. It can fit in Apple's larger ecosystem, and can form the basis for future development to combat Facebook in the future. You could do some interesting things with integration like that...including selecting your favorite twitter users and integrating conversations as Messages...comments from Apple Music, either manual, or automatic...not that I give a shit, but I think many young'uns might find it cool...

Agree 100%

Apple should buy Twitter yesterday. It's only at $10 billion right now.

Apple is super weak in social. Buy Twitter now.

Buy Twitter and do what with it exactly? Quit pushing these stupid ass ideas just because the stock is in a funk.

gatorguy · May 6, 2016 7:23PM

sog35 said:

gatorguy said:

sog35 said:

Exactly.

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, are all laughing to the bank.
They are all making BILLIONS on the backs of iOS users. Without iOS users these companies would die on the vine.

Its time for Apple to play hardball and get a better chunk of the pie.

Because $250B laying around just ain't enough. . . More! More! Don't stop until Apple is the last standing and controls it all! 90% of the profits just isn't good enough. Fire Tim if he can't take 100%!

Does that about sum it up?

How is Apple controlling it all?

Google is worth more than Apple right now by $80 billion.

Apple just wants its fair share.

So 90% isn't a fair share???

Ping 2.0? Apple Music revamp rumored to downplay Connect social network feature

Comments