Apple announces Apple Music radio • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#51

Post by dominotw » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC

toddmorey wrote: post #37

reaperducer wrote: post #23

Apple today announced two new live global radio offerings ...and that's where you lost me. Global radio doesn't work. Hundreds of companies and thousands of people have tried it, and it's never worked. People are different all over, they're not the same, so they don't all want the same thing. I stopped listening to the BBC World Service when it stopped being about Britain and started being "The world's radio station™…

But I'm not sure that geography is the best way to segment & present music going forward? I live in Texas, but that doesn't mean I'm always in the mood for Texas music. This will be interesting to watch—variations in music scenes around the world have made music rich and diverse, but most artists now (at least attempt to) launch to a global audience. In this new scenario, the diversity I think pulls from being able t…

> I live in Texas, but that doesn't mean I'm always in the mood for Texas music.

But you are not in mood for egyptian music either, so there is definitely some correlation between your location and type of music you like.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#52

Post by finnh » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 4:46 PM UTC

bredren wrote: post #46

tarentel wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I listened to it a lot when they launched but the problem with it is they really treat their shows as live radio. There's no way to save them or subscribe and get notifications when they're live. There is no way to follow them. Searching for them is weird. Discovery is also awkward. There were and probably still are a lot of good shows but good luck figuring it all out.

I was listening when Beats 1 came on air, the song they played just prior to the start was Music For Airports by Brian Eno. That influenced me to include it in our Burning Man art this past year. [1] I've subscribed to Apple Music since the start, but apart from a massive catalog, I can't help but feel that it is a neglected product. Apple put Jimmy Iovine in charge of that business, presumably because the company ne…

To say that Jimmy Iovine isn't a music fan ... that's a weird thing to say.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#53

Post by pwinnski » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 4:53 PM UTC

avolcano wrote: post #2

They've been running Beats 1 for the last 5 years (now rebranding to just Apple Music 1). I like the idea of a pop & pop-adjacent radio station with a lot of different shows for different subgenres (it's obviously patterned after BBC Radio 1), but it never seemed to have the "right" mix of variety, and unlike Radio 1 it didn't really have any tentpole stuff to center around (like e.g. Essential Mix), just a lot of ra…

The biggest complaint I've heard from US listeners about Beats1 is that there's too much hip-hop/rap. So now they have stations for people who don't like hip-hop/rap.

Presumably some of the various celebrity shows are going to move to the two new stations, while others will stay.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#54

Post by pwinnski » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #23

Apple today announced two new live global radio offerings ...and that's where you lost me. Global radio doesn't work. Hundreds of companies and thousands of people have tried it, and it's never worked. People are different all over, they're not the same, so they don't all want the same thing. I stopped listening to the BBC World Service when it stopped being about Britain and started being "The world's radio station™…

We're different, and yet... The song Senorita has been in the top 50 in almost every region of the world for a very long time now. So we're different, but we're also the same.

Beats1's main schedule centers around three shows, broadcasting from Los Angeles, New York, and London. Those are the primary markets for which they're aiming, and the music each of the three main DJs plays is different. American and British movies and television tend to play well around the world, and I'm not sure radio is that much different.

Is Beats1 the best radio station for local Tunisian listeners? Is it ever going to be the #1 station in Morocco? Probably not, but many people (especially young people?) in nearly every area of the world consume a lot of western content, presumably enough to keep Apple happy.

I mean, if you're saying you want a radio station that takes chances and plays music you like without repeating the same top 40 hits endlessly, I'm with you. I'm not sure the geography plays as much of a role as you think it does, though. In theory a station could broadcast worldwide and still take chances and avoid repetition.

TL;DR: ClearChannel doesn't suck because they own stations in every US market. They suck because they suck, and it's unfortunate that they own channels in every market because that means it's hard to escape their suck.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#55

Post by pwinnski » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #9

thrwn_frthr_awy wrote: post #6

Beats 1 has been the free version of Apple Music service for some time, but no one really knew that because of disjointed marketing/branding. This is a good step in unifying the services into a cohesive set of offerings.

That's an interesting point. I just switched back to iOS about a year ago and I haven't seen an ad for it in the app store or had it recommended for any of the music players I've test driven since I switched back. I'm not sure if that's just bad marketing or is it Apple not pushing its own products in the app store?

If you launch the pre-installed Music app and tap over to "Radio," you'll see it (now them) front and center.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#56

Post by pwinnski » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 5:10 PM UTC

tarentel wrote: post #33

avolcano wrote: post #2

They've been running Beats 1 for the last 5 years (now rebranding to just Apple Music 1). I like the idea of a pop & pop-adjacent radio station with a lot of different shows for different subgenres (it's obviously patterned after BBC Radio 1), but it never seemed to have the "right" mix of variety, and unlike Radio 1 it didn't really have any tentpole stuff to center around (like e.g. Essential Mix), just a lot of ra…

I listened to it a lot when they launched but the problem with it is they really treat their shows as live radio. There's no way to save them or subscribe and get notifications when they're live. There is no way to follow them. Searching for them is weird. Discovery is also awkward. There were and probably still are a lot of good shows but good luck figuring it all out.

They do have a published schedule, but yeah, it's weird that they don't do notifications.

Here's the schedule for all three: https://imgur.com/gallery/3FW3u3k

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#57

Post by joecool1029 » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 5:17 PM UTC

dewey wrote: post #49

joecool1029 wrote: post #39

Shoutcast has been a thing for near a quarter of a century. I don't see how this compares favorably at all. I have been streaming Shoutcast stations on phones since the late 2000's back on featurephones. iOS I'm currently using 'radio.net' for a Shoutcast client, Android I use Radiodroid. Tons of stations across pretty much any genre. Lots of FM stations that simulcast on here as well. Is there something I'm missing…

That's not really what the product is about. They already had Beats 1 Radio before which is just like a regular radio station but with well known hosts they hired. Some shows that were on-air are usually available as on-demand after the show. If you are not looking for the exclusive shows or you want to avoid switching to a different apps it's probably not a product for you.

Thanks for the clarification, I looked into it a bit more and it looks like what you get on the radio section is a Shoutcast client with 3 exclusive stations. I would assume the integration is a better feature sell than the exclusivity agreements. It seems more of a cheaper competitor to SiriusXM when viewed this way, where instead of leaning on the Shoutcast broadcasters to fill in a sparse radio section, they actually run a bunch of their own curated stations.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#58

Post by kjakm » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 6:06 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #41

toddmorey wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I'm not sure that geography is the best way to segment & present music going forward? I live in Texas, but that doesn't mean I'm always in the mood for Texas music. This will be interesting to watch—variations in music scenes around the world have made music rich and diverse, but most artists now (at least attempt to) launch to a global audience. In this new scenario, the diversity I think pulls from being able t…

I live in Texas, but that doesn't mean I'm always in the mood for Texas music. I'm not sure what "Texas" music is, even though I lived there for many years. Maybe you're interested in listening to rap music. Rap music on radio stations in Houston isn't the same playlist as rap music on a radio station in New York, or Paris. Rap is actually a great example of this, because rap is very geographic. Montreal, Paris, and…

They do this based on shows. There's a show from New York, a few from London, some from LA, and then a bunch of artist-led shows. They're all run on a schedule so you can tune in to the ones you're interested in.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#59

Post by globalproctd » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 6:55 PM UTC

jasonlotito wrote: post #30

parasubvert wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to disagree pretty strongly. I have both Spotify and Apple Music, and the latter has spot on recommendations, sound quality, and the far better UX for me. Probably 80% of my listening time is in Apple Music. TIDAL seems better for lossless/master quality in my stereo setup but is really expensive, so I only sign up occasionally. The only reason I use Spotify is sharing playlists with friends or on social media…

I just opened up Apple Music to see if it changed much. I tapped on a song to play. Instead of playing, I got a full screen ad. A full screen ad. For Apple Music. The app I'm in. Edit: And I want to make sure I'm clear here. I pay for iTunes Match. I have a nice music library, and it's in iTunes, so I like having it with me where I go when I want to listen to something from that. So, I'm in Apple Music, trying to pla…

You're paying for iTunes Match, which is a different service than Apple Music.

Re: Apple announces Apple Music radio

#60

Post by bredren » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 11:45 PM UTC

finnh wrote: post #52

bredren wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was listening when Beats 1 came on air, the song they played just prior to the start was Music For Airports by Brian Eno. That influenced me to include it in our Burning Man art this past year. [1] I've subscribed to Apple Music since the start, but apart from a massive catalog, I can't help but feel that it is a neglected product. Apple put Jimmy Iovine in charge of that business, presumably because the company ne…

To say that Jimmy Iovine isn't a music fan ... that's a weird thing to say.

I don’t think he looks at music and browsing for new music in a remotely similar way to an average person.