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Apple Music just made its debut at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and already some critics are saying that it’s just like existing streaming services like Pandora and Spotify with little new, except the Apple logo on it.
I’d beg to differ, and I’m no Apple fanboy. Now, to be honest, I don’t use a music streaming service today, but as an iPod owner, I don’t need one. I have my music with me in the car or wherever I go, thanks to my recently acquired and rebuilt vintage iPod Classic 80GB music player.
For more than a year, since I traded in my old Apple iPhone 4S for a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone, I haven’t had a working music player in my phone because I found every one of several Android versions that I’ve tried to be absolutely inferior to the grace, simplicity and intuitiveness of Apple’s iTunes.
Now I carry two devices—my phone and my iPod—because with iTunes it is easy to add music to the iPod. Whether I buy music tracks online and add them to iTunes or if I rip them from CDs, my music shows up where I put it without any glitches like I had with Android music players. It just works.
All of this makes me excited about Apple Music because it will be tied in with iTunes, and that means it will be something that I’m already planning to explore when it is released on June 30. Apple Music’s streaming service will be $9.99 a month or $13.99 for up to six users in a family membership.
Yes, I know, critics are saying that Pandora and Spotify already do the streaming music tasks very well, but I think they are forgetting a few things.
First, Apple fanatics are a fiercely dedicated lot and I think that Apple’s bringing Music together with iTunes will reinvigorate iTunes use because Apple fans will certainly want to try it. And we’re not talking about a few Apple users here. There are millions and millions of them carrying iPhones, iPads, iPods and more, all waiting to see how Apple will make their music lives easier and more diverse. That’s quite a potential audience, I say to the naysayers.
That will be the magic that Apple brings to this marketplace, I believe. These are people who line up for days outside Apple stores to buy the latest iPhones. These are people who watch streaming video of Apple events like WWDC and more, all to take in the latest products and software features.
Apple Music is the first streaming music service that actually makes me want to try one out. And the reason is that it is already tied in to the graceful and reliable iTunes application I’m already invested in. I bet plenty of other people will feel the same way.
So what are you planning to do?
Write to us and let us know.