Apple Music

Apple Music, iTunes Movies and iBooks make their long-expected debut in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 30, 2015

Apple on Wednesday announced that users in China can now enjoy Apple Music, as well as browse and download their entertainment from the iTunes Store and iBooks Store, marking the first time customers in the 1.33 billion people market will have access to Apple’s entertainment ecosystem with music, movies and books right at their fingertips.

“Customers in China love the App Store and have made it our largest market in the world for app downloads,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “One of the top requests has been more great content and we’re thrilled to bring music, movies and books to China, curated by a local team of experts.”

Zane Lowe is not sure Apple Music needs Beats 1, and neither am I

Sébastien Page ∙ September 29, 2015

Speaking to his former Radio 1 boss at the Radio Festival in London, Beats 1 head DJ Zane Lowe admitted that he wasn't sure Apple Music needed Beats 1. In a moment of candor that probably made Apple's PR department choke on these words, Lowe is saying out loud what I've personally been thinking for a while.

Apple Music free trials expiring tomorrow, here’s how to disable auto-renewals

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Apple faces a big day tomorrow as free three-month Apple Music trials are set to expire on Wednesday, September 30. Just yesterday, the firm posted a series of guided tour videos to help new and existing users understand the various features of the service.

Ahead of the initial wave of free trial expirations, Apple is pushing notifications to those who signed up for a free-trial to encourage them to renew their membership.

If you signed up for your first three months of free services and have forgotten to disable the Auto-Renew option, you can still do so before Apple charges your credit card on file, here's how.

Apple Music guided tour series goes live prior to initial wave of free trial expirations

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 12, 2018

Just as the initial batch of Apple Music free trials are set to expire, Apple has posted over a half-dozen new guided tour videos on its YouTube channel. The aim of the video series is clear—to help new and existing users understand how Apple Music works.

Although over 11 million users have signed up for the free trial, the general consensus seems to be that Apple Music is more difficult to use than necessary. Apple faces stiff competition, primarily from the likes of Spotify, who's service is fairly straightforward and easy to use.

On the eve of the first wave of free trial expirations, it's a critical time for Apple Music. After giving users three months to test out its service, Apple must convince its trial user base that its monthly subscription service is worth paying for. The new guided tours are aiming to clear up misconceptions, answer questions, and serve as virtual how tos.

How to get your Likes back in Apple Music after upgrading your iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ September 26, 2015

I woke up this morning to the sad realization that all my Apple Music Likes had disappeared. Hundreds of little red hearts that are supposed to make my Apple Music experience more tailored to my tastes were gone. I didn't really connect the dots right away as I assumed nothing had changed in my set up between my old iPhone 6 and my new iPhone 6s, but as it turns out, a simple tap of a button fixed everything.

WaveFlow adds a visualizer to the iOS 8.4 Music app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Looking to add some additional pizazz to the Music app in iOS 8.4? If so, then you should consider giving WaveFlow a try.

WaveFlow, a new jailbreak tweak, adds a music visualizer to both your iPhone's Now Playing interface in the stock Music app, and on your iPhone's Lock screen. It only works with the stock Music app, but if that's your primary method for playing tunes, it's definitely work checking out.

Samsung and Sony take swipes at Apple’s ‘Hey Siri’ event announcements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Following Apple's action-packed media event yesterday which saw introductions of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus smartphones with 3D Display technology, the new iPad Pro with Apple Pencil, the much improved Apple TV and more, both Sony and Samsung took to social media to poke fun of Apple's latest innovation.

As you may have guessed, Samsung especially took swipes at Apple's stylus, which isn't surprising given Steve Jobs' famous “If you see a stylus, they blew it” quote and the fact the Galaxy maker pioneered stylus-enhanced phablets with its Note lineup.

Apple admits Apple Music needs more work, Android app and Sonos integration coming

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2015

Even though Apple Music Connect “is growing big-time,” there's still “a lot of work going into making” Apple Music better and “a bit of homework to be done” when it comes to improving Apple Music Connect, said an Apple executive in an interview with The Guardian newspaper this morning.

Apple adds The Weeknd, The Chemical Brothers and others to Apple Music Festival roster

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Wednesday added The Weeknd and The Chemical Brothers to the list of performers for its upcoming Apple Music Festival. The announcement was made live on Beats 1 Radio this afternoon, as well as the official Apple Music Twitter account.

In addition to these two acts, Apple also revealed today that the English pop group Take That will be performing at the Festival, as will James Bay and Leon Bridges. Bay will be sharing the stage with Pharrell, and Bridges with Florence + The Machine.

Former Apple Music lead Ian Rogers joins French luxury multinational LVMH

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Following his resignation from Apple, a move said to have left his colleagues scratching their head, former Apple Music executive and Beats 1 director Ian Rogers has joined LVMH, a French luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, Re/code said on Tuesday.

This is especially interesting considering Apple itself poached executives from LVMH, including the sales director for watch brand TAG Heuer in July 2014, Heuer Patrick Pruniaux.

Beats 1 director Ian Rogers unexpectedly resigns from Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2017

Ian Rogers, former Beats Music CEO and Apple Music's Senior Director, has unexpectedly left Apple less than two months following the launch of Apple's music-streaming service, according to The Financial Times newspaper on Friday.

The executive is credited with crafting Beats 1 Radio, Apple's free of charge 24/7 Internet radio available in more than a hundred countries, and shaping its playlists. He was also instrumental in hiring away Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe from his post at BBC Radio 1.

Logic Pro X update adds a new synthesizer, Apple Music support, and Force Touch compatibility

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple's professional recording software, Logic Pro X, just received a big update that brings several new features to the table. The update, which beings Logic Pro X to version 10.2, introduces a new sample manipulation synthesizer dubbed Alchemy.

Alchemy is labeled as a next-gen synth plug-in with multiple sound generators and over 2,000 presents for all types of music genres like EDM, dance, and rock. It brings the ability to combine up to four synthesizer modules to create multi-layered sounds, and includes a wide selection of analog and special effect filters for producing complex sounds.

I personally use Logic Pro X to mix our two podcasts, but I know that I'm just scratching the surface of what this incredibly powerful app can do. And now, it just got that much more powerful with the introduction of Alchemy, support for the Force Touch trackpad, Apple Music Connect sharing, and more.