5 ms·

sluggish UI aside, I really don't like Apple Music's TASTE in music. Spotify's playlists are reliably more niche. Apple is far more "GRAMMY/Top 40"-oriented and

sluggish UI aside, I really don't like Apple Music's TASTE in music. Spotify's playlists are reliably more niche. Apple is far more "GRAMMY/Top 40"-oriented and that's just not interesting to me. Also, Apple should have bought Rdio.

circa 5y ago
If you think Apple's TASTE is bad, you should try TIDAL. Its really bad.
- sleepyhead 5y ago
  Music curation was actually what made Tidal (Wimp) great in the first place. They didn't have the tech that Spotify had, and at the time the Spotify AI wasn't very good either, so the Tidal curated lists were really good and much better than the AI-generated (?) ones from Spotify. Things changed after Jay-Z stepped in, Tidal recommending Jay-z & friends is one example. Don't know if manual list curation is still a priority for them. Besides, perhaps your taste in music is not aligned with most others.
- pph 5y ago
  I'm currently trying Tidal and that's the main issue why I won't stay. Somehow there only seem to be official playlists, so if I search for a somewhat niche genre [0] I'll probably not find anything relevant, except maybe some compilation releases of dubious value. I managed to bring their auto generated playlists to an acceptable level by favoring enough artists, but it's still a very lacking experience. [0] e.g. searching for Detroit house playlists gives me "Classic Rock Classics". Lofi house → "Epidemic Sound Christmas".
reaperducer 5y ago
I really don't like Apple Music's TASTE in music. I'm with you there. Apple (and really all the streaming services) are constantly crowing about how many millions of songs they have. How about some metric for how many good songs they have? 80% of my wife's record collection is not available on Apple Music, so I'm left ripping her records in what used to be my spare time. The only reason we have Apple Music is for when an artist she follows puts out a new record, so she can listen to the album to decide if it's worth buying. Also, Apple Music's Siri integration is horrendous. For example, no matter what request I shout to it, Siri can only play one particular song by Weird Al Yankovich. My guess is that there's something with the quotation marks commonly used in his name screwing up Apple's search mechanism. I have high hopes for Apple's new classical streaming service. It has a chance to redeem itself there.
- poulsbohemian 5y ago
  >80% of my wife's record collection is not available on Apple Music I'm really curious what kind of music is in her collection? I'm always amazed at the obscure stuff that is available... obscure jazz, klezmer, classical recordings, etc...
  - ryantgtg 5y ago
    I’m not the person you’re replying to, but 80% of my record collection is not on AM (or spotify), as well. Hardcore punk!
- prox 5y ago
  I recently bought https://jriver.com/ https://jriver.com/ Jriver Media Center and it is a audiophile dream. I am going back to ripping my old CDs and having my own local library.
cauthon 5y ago
I totally agree with you. I miss Google Play Music. In addition to a superior queue UI (hey Spotify, let me play a song next), they had the best playlists and song recommendations I've found on a streaming service.
- Steltek 5y ago
  I miss GPM's UI. While I'm a pretty firm YTM customer (price, features, catalog, artist payout feelgoods), the UI is pure trash and annoys the hell out of me. From playlists, queues, browsing, and recommendations, it's all awful. Thankfully music is mostly "search for that song", "play a mix from this playlist", or "play just this playlist" so no one needs to suffer through it for long.
MajorBee 5y ago
I have a slightly more cynical take on why Spotify pushes niche bands and music so much (in fact, I can’t even remember the last time I saw an “established” band in my Discover Weekly playlist) — Spotify doesn’t have to pay out that much per listen for these niche bands, while having, say, Beyoncé or Drake pop up on millions of subscribers’ weekly playlist would eat in their margins.
- afsafsaf 5y ago
  Discover Weekly is a playlist meant to surface less known artists that you might like.
- Wiseacre 5y ago
  Spotify pushes Drake all the time so that theory is bunk.

circa 5y ago

If you think Apple's TASTE is bad, you should try TIDAL. Its really bad.

sleepyhead 5y ago
Music curation was actually what made Tidal (Wimp) great in the first place. They didn't have the tech that Spotify had, and at the time the Spotify AI wasn't very good either, so the Tidal curated lists were really good and much better than the AI-generated (?) ones from Spotify. Things changed after Jay-Z stepped in, Tidal recommending Jay-z & friends is one example. Don't know if manual list curation is still a priority for them. Besides, perhaps your taste in music is not aligned with most others.
pph 5y ago
I'm currently trying Tidal and that's the main issue why I won't stay. Somehow there only seem to be official playlists, so if I search for a somewhat niche genre [0] I'll probably not find anything relevant, except maybe some compilation releases of dubious value. I managed to bring their auto generated playlists to an acceptable level by favoring enough artists, but it's still a very lacking experience. [0] e.g. searching for Detroit house playlists gives me "Classic Rock Classics". Lofi house → "Epidemic Sound Christmas".

reaperducer 5y ago

I really don't like Apple Music's TASTE in music. I'm with you there. Apple (and really all the streaming services) are constantly crowing about how many millions of songs they have. How about some metric for how many good songs they have? 80% of my wife's record collection is not available on Apple Music, so I'm left ripping her records in what used to be my spare time. The only reason we have Apple Music is for when an artist she follows puts out a new record, so she can listen to the album to decide if it's worth buying. Also, Apple Music's Siri integration is horrendous. For example, no matter what request I shout to it, Siri can only play one particular song by Weird Al Yankovich. My guess is that there's something with the quotation marks commonly used in his name screwing up Apple's search mechanism. I have high hopes for Apple's new classical streaming service. It has a chance to redeem itself there.

poulsbohemian 5y ago
>80% of my wife's record collection is not available on Apple Music I'm really curious what kind of music is in her collection? I'm always amazed at the obscure stuff that is available... obscure jazz, klezmer, classical recordings, etc...
- ryantgtg 5y ago
  I’m not the person you’re replying to, but 80% of my record collection is not on AM (or spotify), as well. Hardcore punk!
prox 5y ago
I recently bought https://jriver.com/ https://jriver.com/ Jriver Media Center and it is a audiophile dream. I am going back to ripping my old CDs and having my own local library.

cauthon 5y ago

I totally agree with you. I miss Google Play Music. In addition to a superior queue UI (hey Spotify, let me play a song next), they had the best playlists and song recommendations I've found on a streaming service.

Steltek 5y ago
I miss GPM's UI. While I'm a pretty firm YTM customer (price, features, catalog, artist payout feelgoods), the UI is pure trash and annoys the hell out of me. From playlists, queues, browsing, and recommendations, it's all awful. Thankfully music is mostly "search for that song", "play a mix from this playlist", or "play just this playlist" so no one needs to suffer through it for long.

MajorBee 5y ago

I have a slightly more cynical take on why Spotify pushes niche bands and music so much (in fact, I can’t even remember the last time I saw an “established” band in my Discover Weekly playlist) — Spotify doesn’t have to pay out that much per listen for these niche bands, while having, say, Beyoncé or Drake pop up on millions of subscribers’ weekly playlist would eat in their margins.

afsafsaf 5y ago
Discover Weekly is a playlist meant to surface less known artists that you might like.
Wiseacre 5y ago
Spotify pushes Drake all the time so that theory is bunk.