Why Apple Music is Our Favorite Streaming Service on the Block

Apple Music has had its share of bumps since its launch, losing some fans with the automatic U2 downloads (which were a difficult to both acquire for some and remove for others). Some people saw Apple Music as a gimmick, getting consumers first hooked on the technology and then providing the music that goes with it.

But Apple always seems to learn from hitches and adapt to new situations, while still providing one of the smartest (and most perennially popular) services available.

What Apple excels at is ease of use and sleekness of design. While there are certain updates that take getting used to, Apple is always aiming for the most user-friendly experience on all levels. The system easily integrates old and new digital music libraries, as well as devices. Because of this, you can use your single iTunes account to access all movies, films, TV series, books, and apps—everything you own—wherever you have an internet connection.

Added to that, Apple Music’s affiliation with Beats 1 Radio provides quality programming that can introduce listeners to new and cutting edge music (even more effectively than iTunes’ handy features “Listeners Also Bought” and “Recommended for You”).

Comparable services are more on-demand podcasts, whereas Beats 1 Radio has ongoing programming—like radio—and it’s an ideal companion to the Apple Music streaming.

Another thing Apple Music does better than competing services is that it lets you be in control of your musical curation. On installation of the Apple Music app, you dictate your preferences on three tiers so it can more acutely select music to fit your taste, and not just what may or may not sound like a band or artist you like.

One reason for its success is that Apple is getting some of the best programmers in the field to help with not only the ease of use, but in developing artificial intelligence that does more than just follow along a basic algorithm. In other words, it is highly intuitive. And Apple is a big company that reinvests in making its products and services top-of-the-line.

And there is benefit both to music and to artists when you are required—at all tiers of music—to pay for that music (remember Taylor Swift’s refusal to let her songs be free on Apple Music? They listened, and she helped thousands of other artists in the process). Apple Music is not a huge monthly cost to the consumer, it provides a great service, and it’s a sustainable model. Currently, the music industry makes half of what it did in 1999, mostly because of the drain coming from free streaming programs. This means that only very packaged, sellable artists can continue to make music, which will inevitably sound more prescribed, offering less variety. (Some of these companies that offer free streaming reap tremendous profits, but artists end up seeing tiny fractions of that; Aloe Blacc, like Taylor Swift, wrote about his experiences, outlining the hit on the songwriters and musicians.)

Either way, Apple Music is in it for the long haul and has the business model and the funds for sustainability. And its self-curation features are hard to beat on any service.

Apple Music is available with your iTunes account, and can play on any Apple product. To find out more about Apple Music, or if you are interested in the lineup of Apple products, visit us at modernhomesystems.com or stop by our showroom at 7007 Carroll Rd, San Diego CA 92121 and our Apple Boutique at16081 San Dieguito Rd “G2,” Rancho Santa Fe CA 92091.