“I’ve been testing Apple Music on an iPhone 6 Plus, loaned to me by Apple for about a day,” Walt Mossberg writes for Re/code. “Because of the short testing time, this isn’t a full-on review but a first look. I set out to gather some initial impressions of how it feels to use the product. And to answer the question: Would I pay $10 a month — $120 a year — to use it?”
“My answer is a tentative yes, with some caveats. Apple has built a handsome, robust app and service that goes well beyond just offering a huge catalog of music by providing many ways to discover and group music for a very wide range of tastes and moods,” Mossberg writes. “But it’s also uncharacteristically complicated by Apple standards, with everything from a global terrestrial radio station to numerous suggested playlists for different purposes in different places. And the company offers very little guidance on how to navigate its many features. It will take time to learn it.”
MacDailyNews Take: It’s really not that complicated.
“My biggest disappointment with Apple Music is that, unlike apps like SoundHound, it has no lyrics. Apple says it’s working on adding that feature.,” Mossberg writes. “My first impression of Apple Music is that it’s the most full-featured streaming music app I’ve seen — and heard — and the first I’d consider paying for. But it may overwhelm some users, and I’ll need to live with it more before I can reach final conclusions.”
Read more in the full article here.\
MacDailyNews Take: As Nathan Olivarez-Gilesapple explains over in Walt’s old stomping ground, The Wall Street Journal: Apple Music is a busy service by design. The Cupertino-based company’s goal is to build a service that can not only compete with its pioneering rivals who have a years-long head start, but also something that can convert the majority of music fans who haven’t yet taken to streaming.
MacDailyNews Note: We expect Apple Music to arrive around 8am PDT / 11am EDT with the release of iOS 8.4 and the Beats 1 to go “on the air” an hour later at 9am PDT / 12 noon EDT.
Apple Music arrives on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (via iOS 8.4 update), Mac or Windows PC (via iTunes update). Apple Music is coming to Apple TV and Android this fall.
SEE ALSO:
SPIN takes first look at Apple Music: Usability is remarkably streamlined for such a complex product – June 30, 2015
Ed Baig first look: Apple Music visually appealing with creative playlists – June 30, 2015