5 things for Apple (and you) to keep in mind as Apple Music is launched

  • By August Brown Los Angeles Times
  • Wednesday, July 1, 2015 2:30pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Daniel Ek of Spotify, the Beggars Group label consortium and the almighty Taylor Swift (among many others) are among the many who have all inveighed, quipped or protested against Apple Music, which stands to profoundly reshape the music industry with its launch this week.

Offering a centralized location for streaming music, integration with Apple’s universe of hardware products and at least a nominal nod to real live humans overseeing its ecosystem, there’s a lot of potential here. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of reasons to be skeptical. Here are five things for Apple to keep an eye on as it rolls out.

Will anyone care about the radio stations?

Beats One, the flagship broadcasting arm of Apple Music, is the most overtly human part of its service. Zane Lowe was hired from BBC Radio 1 to join DJs and presenters Ebro Darden and Julie Adenuga as the faces of the service, and a range of artists — Drake, Pharrell, St. Vincent, Elton John and the young Jaden Smith — will have regular programming blocks.

But is the hunger for curation really there? Music has become so ubiquitous yet so ephemeral in our lives that the idea of a radio station’s stricture seems outdated. We’ll be tuning in to Elton’s quirky “Rocket Hour,” but frankly we’ll be a bit surprised if many of these stations have long-term appeal.

Will fans leave Spotify?

Apple is late to the streaming market, but the company sold more than 60 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2015, and every one of them will have surely access to Apple Music going forward. But inertia is a powerful thing, and at this point there’s no reason for any fan to keep multiple streaming services (except maybe SoundCloud for its vast archive of underground material). For most fans, Spotify already provides ample access to music and benefits from years of built-up playlists. Apple can make people spend $700 on a phone without blinking, but can it get a critical mass to pay another $10 a month?

Will artists revolt?

With just one recent op-ed, Taylor Swift reset the whole argument about Apple’s planned free three-month subscription (or, as artists see it, a quarter of a year without royalty payments). Apple backtracked from that in the end, but it might be just as important to see if smaller labels and acts still feel this is a worthwhile development for them. Apple has quietly been a champion of indie-minded acts in the past, and the artist-centric social-media component is intriguing (even if it’s hard to see fans clamoring for yet another social network). Apple Music is banking on Trent Reznor and Jimmy Iovine’s music-first reputation, and if forward-thinking artists grumble about Apple’s business practices or the quality of the experience, that could lose its luster quickly.

Will the interface be appealing?

For all its dominance in the Apple universe, there might not be a more loathed piece of music software than iTunes. It’s a mess for keeping track of any vast library, and music fans reserve a special place in hell for its frequent updates and botched syncs across devices. Apple Music will have to create an intuitive universe for streaming, because if steering fans (especially older ones) away from downloads and file ownership and into its streaming model is the real goal, it’ll have to make the transition so natural that fans can’t imagine a world without it. Right now, iTunes is the drunk uncle spoiling the elegant party of Apple’s hardware, and Apple Music — already cumbersome with so many elements – gets just one shot to get this right.

Why music, anyway?

Apple is one of the most lucrative corporate entities ever devised by human minds. Why does it seem to care so much about staying ahead in this sphere, when streaming digital music is already free and easily accessible? It’s a glamorous addition to its hardware, but this is as much about Apple’s reputation for products that are covetable fetish objects. Music, for all its fiscal devaluation over the 2000s, still creates intense emotional attachments, and Apple has been profoundly associated with major advancements in how we hear it. For Apple Music to work, it can’t just be an efficient means of playing Drake singles at parties. It has to be loved.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.