Back in June Apple launch probably one of their biggest software updates with their new music streaming service Apple Music which added as part of the IOS 8.4 update as well as the iTunes 12.2 update, the service was made free for the first 3 months.
Memberships
There are two types of membership plans on Apple Music, an individual membership which is £9.99 ($9.99) a month or a family membership where you can add up to six members on your device for £14.99 ($14.99) a month,as shown in the image below.
Genre and Artist recommendations
Apple Music recommends artists, playlists and albums based on the type of music or artists you listen to. Much like Spotify you follow your favourite artists but the feature I like about Apple Music that's not one Spotify is get to select the genres of music you listen to the most as well as artists.
For You
During my three month free I used a feature called For You quite a lot due to the fact that there is so many albums and playlists to choose from. The albums and playlists on the page recommendations based on the genres of music you listen to as well as artists you follow or that are similar to the ones you've listen to. Another part of the For You page that I like is a playlist called Deep Cuts which consists mainly of lesser known songs by that artist.
New
The New page features the biggest current hits as well as the latest music videos, songs and albums across a wide variety of genres such as Rock, Pop, R&B ect. I like this feature because it makes it easy for me to find new songs, albums and music videos by favourite artists and bands; the page is constantly up to date with the latest release it's great for discovering new artists.
Beat 1 and Radio Stations
Apple Music includes internet radio stations such as Beats 1 which is 24/7 radio station which plays continuously in a 100 countries and is staffed by former BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe, hip hop DJ Ebro Darden and British radio present Julie Ardenuga. Beats 1 radio features interviews by your favourite artists. You can also choose from featured stations or genre based stations which also include sub genres or types of music that are similar e.g hard rock, alternative, heavy metal ect.
Connect
The connect feature is a blog platform where artists can share media with fans. I really like this feature on Apple Music because it allows you to follow and interact with your favourite artists including latest news, videos, pictures and posts from their social media.
My Music
Every user has a My Music section that shows purchased songs and tracks available for streaming including albums and playlists. The My Music sections shows songs and albums that you've recently added to your device or iTunes library; you can also make songs and albums available for offline listening.
Artist Pages
The artist page features their most recent release, most played songs, their discography, playlists and music videos as well as a biography, similar artists and some profiles include the artists that influenced their music.
At first I wasn't too sure whether to try it out or not because I had Spotify Premium at the time but then decided to use the 3 month free trial. During the free trial I found that I was using Apple Music more than Spotify.
The reason I used Apple Music more than Spotify was mainly due to the some of extra features such as the connect feature which I really like because it's similar to social networking where you can follow and interact with your favourites artists; also you can watch music videos a feature that also isn't on spotify.
It also seems that some artist prefer Apple Music one artist in particular being Taylor Swift who after writing an open letter to Apple about royalty payments decided to have her album 1989 as well as her other albums streamed through the service; Prince being another artist who opted to have his songs on Apple Music instead of other streaming services.
Overall I think Apple Music is a very a good streaming service; most streaming services only give you a months free trial where as on Apple Music users get a 3 month free trial which personally I think is better music because it's users a lot more time to decide whether they want to renew their subscription. I think Apple Music is defiantly worth the subscription payment and would defiantly recommend the streaming services to other people.
It also seems that some artist prefer Apple Music one artist in particular being Taylor Swift who after writing an open letter to Apple about royalty payments decided to have her album 1989 as well as her other albums streamed through the service; Prince being another artist who opted to have his songs on Apple Music instead of other streaming services.
Overall I think Apple Music is a very a good streaming service; most streaming services only give you a months free trial where as on Apple Music users get a 3 month free trial which personally I think is better music because it's users a lot more time to decide whether they want to renew their subscription. I think Apple Music is defiantly worth the subscription payment and would defiantly recommend the streaming services to other people.
