I joined Apple Music almost a year ago after studying it extensively in my classes, and I have to say it greatly improved my listening experience by helping me find new music. I personally will always prefer to buy physical CDs (and, sometimes, vinyl) because I like being able to hold the album in my hand and actually own the music. If I buy a physical album, I will have it in fifty years to play for my grandchildren. If I stream that same album, who knows if I can play it in a year.
Anyway, Apple convinced me to join their ranks partly because I’ve been an Apple user from birth, but as a musician, I applaud the business model they adopted to fairly compensate musicians – a model that some other services have not followed (looking at you, Spotify).
Also, Apple’s goal when moving into streaming services has been to focus on the experience provided to users, which is why they focus a lot on playlist curation and tailoring searches for users. Because of this functionality, I’ve really been able to explore new music and genres, which really has grown my own personal playlists, particularly my biking playlists (which is perfect as summer approaches).
For example, this afternoon was a particularly gorgeous Spring day, so I decided to take a “power” walk during my break at work, and was scrolling through the below playlist, curated by Apple to give you choices of pop music meant to motivate you to work out.
I wouldn’t say I agree with all the choices, but I will say playlists like these have helped me discover new artists and new songs, so I’m a happy little clam.