Apple Music, the company’s streaming / social / radio service, rolls out today. So you’ll see plenty of people talking about how it looks to listeners.
But how does it look to artists?
If you followed my previous advice about signing up for “Music for Artists” via Apple Connect, you may already be having a look. But here’s the big-picture overview.
Connect – Where?
Connect involves a few ingredients:
1. A Web-administered identity, connected to your iTunes account
2. A (read-only) presence with content in iTunes on desktop
3. The ability to both read and add content from the Apple Music app on iOS
First, you’ll need to verify an artist profile and wait for approval. See, previously:
Here’s How To Get Yourself on Apple Music – Even Unsigned
Once that’s done, you can see your account in iTunes Connect. Developers for iOS and the OS X App Store will find this familiar: there’s a Web interface for administering your identity, with the same name. It’s also related to a similar ‘iTunes Connect’ feature that for years has allowed labels and major artists to upload content to iTunes, though here we’re talking about functionality and content that appears in a new, unrelated section. From this point on, “Connect” will refer to the fledgling social media-style channel that appears in the new Apple Music.
And from there, you can … do nothing, actually. You can see if an account is verified, but that’s it. (You’ll see in my screenshot here Apple approved me as a soloist but appears to be waiting on my label for the duo I’m part of.)
No, to actually use “Music for Artists,” you have to switch to the app. So, whereas I can add content to Facebook and SoundCloud from desktop and mobile apps but also from the Web interface, Apple is apps-or-nothing.
To get the Apple Music app, you’ll need to update your software. On OS X, that’s easy – you can just update iTunes, without a restart. On iOS, you’ll need to update the entire operating system to iOS 8.4. (Android support is somewhere in the future.)
Let’s start at what you see as a viewer.
The Trent Reznor Social Network
Connect is based on “following” artists. By default, this is artists you’ve already got in your iTunes Library. On desktop iTunes, your choices are pretty limited. So, in my case, I was greeted with what appeared to be Instagram if Instagram were entirely about Trent Reznor. (Not a terrible thing, but there you are.)
On mobile, you can choose to switch on or off the “automatic” follow feature (based on adding artists to your library). You can also drill down and follow or unfollow certain artists. You can also choose to “find more” artists, though that leads to a somewhat alarming selection of “recommended” artists that seems to be the same for everyone. (That or else I’ve made some horrible karmic error that makes Apple think I like One Direction.)
You can still find artists manually, via a search feature. But there’s no Web interface, and that means no Facebook integration and the like.
You can “heart” content, comment, or share (via Apple’s standard sharing facility). Comments are public, but there’s a ‘report concern’ link (if someone starts saying something unseemly to Trent, which for me hadn’t happened yet).
And then you scroll forever. On iTunes on desktop, content lives in a fixed layout that doesn’t adapt to the width of your screen.
Adding Connect Content
You can only add content – for now – via the iOS app, not even via the new iTunes on Mac.
The actual content is associated with your profile (or one of your profiles). It includes:
1. Message (Text, link)
2. Uploaded content (Video, photo, a song from your music library, or a Soundbite recorded from the mic)
3. Apple Music Library content
The library of Apple Music is the one way to go beyond what you already own.
The interface is ridiculously limited. Basically, you get access to your iTunes Music library on your device, and photos and video stored in your library, plus the ability to make these Soundbites. That’s it. I’m hoping that you’ll be able to share via other facilities, but for now, you can’t. So, for instance, there’s no obvious way to upload a snippet from a music creation app to the app – other than go through the library, anyway.
If you do upload music from your library, you’re presented with a metadata editing interface.
But for each of these methods, all content is uploaded from iOS only. Got some video shot on a DSLR? You have to first load that onto an iOS device before you can upload. Got a track you finished on your computer? Ditto.
This restriction is annoying enough on a service like Instagram. But at least Instagram has “instant” in the name, and serves the purpose of making photos immediate. Connect is geared specifically for pro creators, and there’s no clear reason it’s mobile-linked. Digging through Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, in fact, most stuff seemed to be archival.
One exception: GarageBand lets you export tracks directly to the service, from both the latest iOS and OS X versions. But, again, that means extra steps for a lot of content makers – adding friction to a service we’re not using yet. And even if we’re talking your iPad alone, most apps make it easier to upload to SoundCloud than it is right now to upload to Connect.
You also can only upload one type of content at a time. So, for instance, say you’re on tour. You snap a photo with your iPhone and want to record a little soundbite. You can’t actually put those together in one post; you have to upload each separately.
How Connect Connects
So, it’s a chore to upload content – where can it be seen once it’s there?
Once you have that material, it can show up in a few different places.
1. It’ll appear in Apple Music to anyone who’s a “fan” – they’ve added your music to their library, they’ve bought your music on iTunes, they follow you directly via Connect, or they visit your artist page.
2. You can attach it to an already-existing album – basically, making “easter eggs” for your music on iTunes.
3. You can make an embeddable player at http://linkmaker.itunes.apple.com/
4. There is a Web page on Apple.com associated with the content, with a link.
5. A basic sharing function will copy that link directly or share it on Facebook or Twitter (though only once it’s posted).
And this experience is…
Well, absolutely horrible, unforgivably horrible, like no one had ever seen the Internet. SoundCloud alone can in a couple of clicks make an embeddable player and share audio to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, just to name a few. With a couple more clicks, it can keep up with my concert appearances from another service.
Just read the above a couple of times if it hasn’t sunk in:
You can only upload to it from Apple Music on iOS – even the latest OS X software doesn’t work. You can create embeddable content, but using a confusing, separate tool that (at the moment) only supports album content. And then once uploaded, it’s needlessly hard to share with other services.
Correction: It is available online. For instance, here’s a link that refers to a picture Moby just posted of some gear:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/idsa.c5999628-1fca-11e5-94d3-dd2e912b9efb
And that shows up on Apple’s site, though annoyingly the page template seems to be broken (unless they want those enormous margins), the navigation is set up to Apple’s products (in case you want to encourage your fans to buy an iMac), and the right half of the page is taken up by an ad for Apple Music subscriptions.
Hey, Moby: you know, you could actually send that photo to CDM (or, heck, any music blog) and get more engagement.
Interestingly, Apple is sharing some content to Tumblr:
But media there appears to be embedded directly, plus what as near as I can tell are hard-coded, manual links to iTunes content. That’s not anything like being able to share content in the way we’d normally understand or want.
Connect Comparisons
At the moment, “Connect” is about one thing:
It’s about getting content into Apple’s walled garden in iTunes – and now its streaming interface.
I don’t think it’s even fair to judge Connect based on the sweeping, hyperbolic rhetoric Apple used to describe it in its rollout. It simply isn’t what Apple described it as. This isn’t a way for artists to connect with fans, unless those fans somehow don’t know how to use Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, or a Web browser.
And Connect can’t even be compared to tools that do take advantage of the Web and social media. It’s simply technically a different animal.
What you can compare Connect to is a tool like Spotify for Artists:
http://www.spotifyartists.com/
Just like Spotify for Artists, Apple is using a verification process so that content associated with artists comes from an accurate source and can’t be vandalized.
Now, here’s the good news: Connect is better than Spotify in some ways, when you compare head-to-head like this. Apple’s verification process is easier – you don’t have to amass followers first. You can share extra content – those photos, sound bites, videos, and tracks, plus text. There is a sense of a mini social network. And there’s the app support for adding content.
The bad news: even Spotify for Artists is more powerful than Apple Music for Artists. (Huh, wonder where they thought of that title?)
Spotify lets artists add stuff that actually makes them money, like merch and tour dates (via Songkick, which also integrates with SoundCloud). Playlists are a better fit for Spotify. And notifications keep users up to date.
Plus, Spotify lets artists link to those artist profiles, whereas I couldn’t find a way to even link into Connect content.
To me, that’s a weak showing against an entrenched competitor. But worse still, Apple set the bar even higher – and it’s one they simply can’t reach. They went as far as saying Connect would revolutionize how artists talk to fans.
The problem is, artists already have more ways of connecting with fans than they can handle. This adds work with almost zero incentive.
Even Less than a Walled Garden
It’s easy to write a conclusion here, as it’s inescapable.
Connect is a social network that’s antisocial; it’s a tool for “connecting” that is disconnected from absolutely everything else – sometimes even within Apple’s own ecosystem. It seems to be mostly isolated even from the other apps on your iPhone, and only a fraction of its already-limited functionality is available on your Mac or PC.
When you do want to share, it’s a chore: iOS- (and GarageBand-)only, via a completely uninspired interface that covers only the most basic of functionality.
“Connect” is for connecting to fans, but apart from a comment or a ‘like,’ fans have very little control over even what they see on the service.
Most damning, apart from some comments or likes, you can’t really gauge how content was doing. There aren’t any additional statistics, for instance, that I could find, that would indicate how content shared is doing.
I can tell you this: my average Facebook posts on my personal page get higher engagement than Trent Reznor was today on Apple Music. So… uh…
Right, unless Apple Music absolutely explodes over the next few weeks and those same users prove to be heavy Connect users, it’s hard to imagine any of this will be worth your time. And I’ll leave it there, for now.
And they still haven’t fixed their use of the word “song” for everything, whether it’s a song or not.
Good song.
I mean, um, comment.
And they still haven’t fixed their use of the word “song” for everything, whether it’s a song or not.
Good song.
I mean, um, comment.
And they still haven’t fixed their use of the word “song” for everything, whether it’s a song or not.
Good song.
I mean, um, comment.
wow thanks for saving me the trouble!
wow thanks for saving me the trouble!
wow thanks for saving me the trouble!
Actually with Garageband’s latest update (both for iOS and Mac) is it possibile to share content directly to Apple Music Connect.
And everybody knows all professional artists use Garage Band.
I think they will include this feature in a Logic update soon.
and everyone knows that professional artists upload their own mixes themselves. or do mastering houses do that for you?
Professional artists do not upload their own mixes on Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Instagram, … either. Apple Connect isn’t a place created to share music directly (and freely) to fans but to connect with them through images, videos and, why not, audio snippet.
then what is Apple Music Connect?! If they build the sharing functionality into GB and (possibly) Logic, what is the intent of that functionality?
I don’t know… maybe to share “work in progress” tracks; bits of new tracks/ideas.
that’s about all i can think of: established acts with extra tracks, acoustic sessions, etc to toss out for fans. i think it’s interesting, but as somebody who is a nobody in music, i’d be worried about just tossing works-in-progress out there for somebody to download. if it’s no good, why would they line up for the finished product, even if it’s been properly mixed and mastered?
To have something for the PR team to talk about.
Actually with Garageband’s latest update (both for iOS and Mac) is it possibile to share content directly to Apple Music Connect.
And everybody knows all professional artists use Garage Band.
I think they will include this feature in a Logic update soon.
and everyone knows that professional artists upload their own mixes themselves. or do mastering houses do that for you?
Professional artists do not upload their own mixes on Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Instagram, … either. Apple Connect isn’t a place created to share music directly (and freely) to fans but to connect with them through images, videos and, why not, audio snippet.
then what is Apple Music Connect?! If they build the sharing functionality into GB and (possibly) Logic, what is the intent of that functionality?
I don’t know… maybe to share “work in progress” tracks; bits of new tracks/ideas.
that’s about all i can think of: established acts with extra tracks, acoustic sessions, etc to toss out for fans. i think it’s interesting, but as somebody who is a nobody in music, i’d be worried about just tossing works-in-progress out there for somebody to download. if it’s no good, why would they line up for the finished product, even if it’s been properly mixed and mastered?
To have something for the PR team to talk about.
Actually with Garageband’s latest update (both for iOS and Mac) is it possibile to share content directly to Apple Music Connect.
And everybody knows all professional artists use Garage Band.
I think they will include this feature in a Logic update soon.
and everyone knows that professional artists upload their own mixes themselves. or do mastering houses do that for you?
Professional artists do not upload their own mixes on Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Instagram, … either. Apple Connect isn’t a place created to share music directly (and freely) to fans but to connect with them through images, videos and, why not, audio snippet.
then what is Apple Music Connect?! If they build the sharing functionality into GB and (possibly) Logic, what is the intent of that functionality?
I don’t know… maybe to share “work in progress” tracks; bits of new tracks/ideas.
that’s about all i can think of: established acts with extra tracks, acoustic sessions, etc to toss out for fans. i think it’s interesting, but as somebody who is a nobody in music, i’d be worried about just tossing works-in-progress out there for somebody to download. if it’s no good, why would they line up for the finished product, even if it’s been properly mixed and mastered?
To have something for the PR team to talk about.
How it looks to indie artist is that you will not get noticed in Apple Music. What is good in new Spotify is the local content. Most countries have their own music editors that create official playlist content. I just released first single trough my label and got it to official spotify indie playlist. I doubt that it will ever happen in Apple music.
this maybe a good thing tho. maybe more indie artists will just stay on bandcamp. then you know what direction to go if you want indie or the obvious.
Good route! We have an EP on both Spotify and Music and have had far more engagement in Spotify. Would be great to know the routes people take to get themselves heard instead of people ‘JUST’ trying desperately to make a fortune. Lets see how Music does in connecting people!
How it looks to indie artist is that you will not get noticed in Apple Music. What is good in new Spotify is the local content. Most countries have their own music editors that create official playlist content. I just released first single trough my label and got it to official spotify indie playlist. I doubt that it will ever happen in Apple music.
this maybe a good thing tho. maybe more indie artists will just stay on bandcamp. then you know what direction to go if you want indie or the obvious.
Good route! We have an EP on both Spotify and Music and have had far more engagement in Spotify. Would be great to know the routes people take to get themselves heard instead of people ‘JUST’ trying desperately to make a fortune. Lets see how Music does in connecting people!
How it looks to indie artist is that you will not get noticed in Apple Music. What is good in new Spotify is the local content. Most countries have their own music editors that create official playlist content. I just released first single trough my label and got it to official spotify indie playlist. I doubt that it will ever happen in Apple music.
this maybe a good thing tho. maybe more indie artists will just stay on bandcamp. then you know what direction to go if you want indie or the obvious.
Good route! We have an EP on both Spotify and Music and have had far more engagement in Spotify. Would be great to know the routes people take to get themselves heard instead of people ‘JUST’ trying desperately to make a fortune. Lets see how Music does in connecting people!
fuck that.
fuck that.
fuck that.
We’ve reached a place where Trent Reznor is an Oscar-winning film score composer and the public face of a new social network (no pun intended). It’s a brave new world we live in.
We’ve reached a place where Trent Reznor is an Oscar-winning film score composer and the public face of a new social network (no pun intended). It’s a brave new world we live in.
We’ve reached a place where Trent Reznor is an Oscar-winning film score composer and the public face of a new social network (no pun intended). It’s a brave new world we live in.
I’m still in “pending verification” . I wonder how long it usually takes.
It took me two weeks.
It only took me 5 days. Do you currently have music on iTunes? I wonder if it has to do with how many albums you have, how long they’ve been up, etc.
We have an EP in Music and it took maybe three days to get verified. Keep waiting if it hasn’t been sorted already I’m sure it will.
I’m still in “pending verification” . I wonder how long it usually takes.
It took me two weeks.
It only took me 5 days. Do you currently have music on iTunes? I wonder if it has to do with how many albums you have, how long they’ve been up, etc.
We have an EP in Music and it took maybe three days to get verified. Keep waiting if it hasn’t been sorted already I’m sure it will.
I’m still in “pending verification” . I wonder how long it usually takes.
It took me two weeks.
It only took me 5 days. Do you currently have music on iTunes? I wonder if it has to do with how many albums you have, how long they’ve been up, etc.
We have an EP in Music and it took maybe three days to get verified. Keep waiting if it hasn’t been sorted already I’m sure it will.
Do they fire people at Apple when they come up with something so obviously cack-handed and broken?
I still can’t get my head around how awful the Apple software experience is on Windows…
In iTunes on OS X, if you click on the menu to add music, you can select either a single file, or a directory.
On Windows, there are two menu entries, one for directories, and one for individual files. I’m always accidentally clicking the wrong one. What this means is that on Windows they have TWO dialog callbacks, one that only opens a single file, and one that searches a directory.
If only there was a way to have one dialog, and the callback would check whether the path returned was a file or a directory? Oh there is? Well fuck you for using Windows.
Not only that, 1/2 the time dragging audio files onto the iTunes window adds them to the iTunes library. The other 1/2, it looks like they’ve been added but they’re not there.
I could go on, but it’s off topic, EXCEPT for the fact that the description of how you become an iTunes Artist sounds a lot like the idiot numbskull bullshit iTunes puts you through.
It’s almost as though they’re a bunch of arrogant bell ends who care more about their position within the internal Cult of Apple Corporate than how the software they make affects the people who have to use it.
Almost.
Do they fire people at Apple when they come up with something so obviously cack-handed and broken?
I still can’t get my head around how awful the Apple software experience is on Windows…
In iTunes on OS X, if you click on the menu to add music, you can select either a single file, or a directory.
On Windows, there are two menu entries, one for directories, and one for individual files. I’m always accidentally clicking the wrong one. What this means is that on Windows they have TWO dialog callbacks, one that only opens a single file, and one that searches a directory.
If only there was a way to have one dialog, and the callback would check whether the path returned was a file or a directory? Oh there is? Well fuck you for using Windows.
Not only that, 1/2 the time dragging audio files onto the iTunes window adds them to the iTunes library. The other 1/2, it looks like they’ve been added but they’re not there.
I could go on, but it’s off topic, EXCEPT for the fact that the description of how you become an iTunes Artist sounds a lot like the idiot numbskull bullshit iTunes puts you through.
It’s almost as though they’re a bunch of arrogant bell ends who care more about their position within the internal Cult of Apple Corporate than how the software they make affects the people who have to use it.
Almost.
Do they fire people at Apple when they come up with something so obviously cack-handed and broken?
I still can’t get my head around how awful the Apple software experience is on Windows…
In iTunes on OS X, if you click on the menu to add music, you can select either a single file, or a directory.
On Windows, there are two menu entries, one for directories, and one for individual files. I’m always accidentally clicking the wrong one. What this means is that on Windows they have TWO dialog callbacks, one that only opens a single file, and one that searches a directory.
If only there was a way to have one dialog, and the callback would check whether the path returned was a file or a directory? Oh there is? Well fuck you for using Windows.
Not only that, 1/2 the time dragging audio files onto the iTunes window adds them to the iTunes library. The other 1/2, it looks like they’ve been added but they’re not there.
I could go on, but it’s off topic, EXCEPT for the fact that the description of how you become an iTunes Artist sounds a lot like the idiot numbskull bullshit iTunes puts you through.
It’s almost as though they’re a bunch of arrogant bell ends who care more about their position within the internal Cult of Apple Corporate than how the software they make affects the people who have to use it.
Almost.
I’m maybe lost… Is this the thing replacing “Beats”? I’m curious why Reznor is involved, if otherwise… He has all the money in the world, I don’t understand the shilling if it’s not part of the $3B Beats contract
Because back in the day, say, 2006ish, Trent Reznor was working on something very similar. Of course, none of that effort was really seen until Beats in 2013. And you don’t just snub someone like Trent Reznor after the company is absorbed and producing something new.
Apple still very much believes in ‘social capital’ and networking. Which used to mean finding the very best, and working with them. Now, of course, ‘Being the Best’ is all too easily mistaken for ‘The Most Popular’.
But you can see the logic: Trent Reznor, Dr. Dre, legendary (arguably the best) producers from a certain standpoint, multi-disciplined, disciplined. Apple recognized it (perhaps too late, or didn’t have the actual capital to do anything about it) and forged a relationship.
No, why is Trent Reznor prostrating himself to Apple? He doesn’t need the money, what’s the purpose of selling out even more to the empire?
i believe his intentions are good. he wants quality music (files) and insight to artist. He wants artist to get paid and have a good system put in place to do so. if it pans out who knows but these are all smart people, i think if they create something cool people will pay for the art. we shall see. trent has been through his fair share of shit in the music business, i think he is doing this for music fans as much as musicians.
Because he’s not 17 years old, and doesn’t consider them “the empire”, but a company whose products he likes and has used since ages, that could also provide (eventually) a better model for streaming music than Spotify and co.
Obviously that hasn’t been achieved yet.
time to disabuse yourself of the image of Trent Reznor that you had in 1996. He’s an Oscar-winning composer and a middle-aged family man in fairly high spirits (if you listen to new interviews). He’s a businessman and it’s time for us to all grow up.
Bandcamp FTW!
Bandcamp FTW!
Bandcamp FTW!
so even if your music is on iTunes, it’s not on Apple Music. And even if you’re on Apple Music, you can’t necessarily get into Apple Connect, right?
and isn’t Apple Connect just a rehash of Myspace Music? But with *exclusivity!*
so even if your music is on iTunes, it’s not on Apple Music. And even if you’re on Apple Music, you can’t necessarily get into Apple Connect, right?
and isn’t Apple Connect just a rehash of Myspace Music? But with *exclusivity!*
so even if your music is on iTunes, it’s not on Apple Music. And even if you’re on Apple Music, you can’t necessarily get into Apple Connect, right?
and isn’t Apple Connect just a rehash of Myspace Music? But with *exclusivity!*
Just tried uploading the vid for my new single – took bloody ages (had to airdrop it to get it onto my iPad’s camera roll or Music wouldn’t see it) and then it just says ‘upload failed.’ No explanation, no help for the user, just falls over and lies there, dead.
Thanks, Apple. I really didn’t think you could make something more useless than Ping or Games Centre or Genius but you’ve surpassed yourselves.
“””Just tried uploading the vid for my new single – took bloody ages (had to airdrop it to get it onto my iPad’s camera roll or Music wouldn’t see it) and then it just says ‘upload failed.’ No explanation, no help for the user, just falls over and lies there, dead.”””
Oh, the humanity.
As a dev, it’s obvious they’re having network issues on the first days of the service, and some trouble with provisioning and capacity, and that there’s not much they could give you in the way of explanation.
Except if “server #204 rejected the request because load issues” is much more helpful than “Upload Failed”.
I figured that but I think there are deeper problems – I couldn’t even change my avatar on there. And if you try to choose a pic, the app turns into portrait mode even though the rest of it is in landscape.
And then, when you want to report a problem, you cannot use your Apple ID, you have to establish a new ID just for the support desk. Why??
This was rushed out, no way it’s ready, even excluding server overloads.
yeah, who would expect the most valuable company in the history of capitalism (over 700 billion dollars) who single-handedly created the mobile music marketplace to launch a successful music streaming service.
Just tried uploading the vid for my new single – took bloody ages (had to airdrop it to get it onto my iPad’s camera roll or Music wouldn’t see it) and then it just says ‘upload failed.’ No explanation, no help for the user, just falls over and lies there, dead.
Thanks, Apple. I really didn’t think you could make something more useless than Ping or Games Centre or Genius but you’ve surpassed yourselves.
“””Just tried uploading the vid for my new single – took bloody ages (had to airdrop it to get it onto my iPad’s camera roll or Music wouldn’t see it) and then it just says ‘upload failed.’ No explanation, no help for the user, just falls over and lies there, dead.”””
Oh, the humanity.
As a dev, it’s obvious they’re having network issues on the first days of the service, and some trouble with provisioning and capacity, and that there’s not much they could give you in the way of explanation.
Except if “server #204 rejected the request because load issues” is much more helpful than “Upload Failed”.
I figured that but I think there are deeper problems – I couldn’t even change my avatar on there. And if you try to choose a pic, the app turns into portrait mode even though the rest of it is in landscape.
And then, when you want to report a problem, you cannot use your Apple ID, you have to establish a new ID just for the support desk. Why??
This was rushed out, no way it’s ready, even excluding server overloads.
yeah, who would expect the most valuable company in the history of capitalism (over 700 billion dollars) who single-handedly created the mobile music marketplace to launch a successful music streaming service.
Just tried uploading the vid for my new single – took bloody ages (had to airdrop it to get it onto my iPad’s camera roll or Music wouldn’t see it) and then it just says ‘upload failed.’ No explanation, no help for the user, just falls over and lies there, dead.
Thanks, Apple. I really didn’t think you could make something more useless than Ping or Games Centre or Genius but you’ve surpassed yourselves.
“””Just tried uploading the vid for my new single – took bloody ages (had to airdrop it to get it onto my iPad’s camera roll or Music wouldn’t see it) and then it just says ‘upload failed.’ No explanation, no help for the user, just falls over and lies there, dead.”””
Oh, the humanity.
As a dev, it’s obvious they’re having network issues on the first days of the service, and some trouble with provisioning and capacity, and that there’s not much they could give you in the way of explanation.
Except if “server #204 rejected the request because load issues” is much more helpful than “Upload Failed”.
I figured that but I think there are deeper problems – I couldn’t even change my avatar on there. And if you try to choose a pic, the app turns into portrait mode even though the rest of it is in landscape.
And then, when you want to report a problem, you cannot use your Apple ID, you have to establish a new ID just for the support desk. Why??
This was rushed out, no way it’s ready, even excluding server overloads.
yeah, who would expect the most valuable company in the history of capitalism (over 700 billion dollars) who single-handedly created the mobile music marketplace to launch a successful music streaming service.
To me, this is heartbreaking and maddening. I love most of Apple’s products and services, and overall I really think Apple Music is great, but Connect was the part I was looking most forward to. They had an opportunity to revolutionize the music industry (again) and they blew it. Artists NEED a service like this that works. Bandcamp is not remotely social. Soundcloud is semi-social but suffers from serious organizational issues, and the new version of their mobile app is a monstrosity. Facebook is the worst place possible to try and share your music and art if you take your life’s work remotely seriously.
Yesterday I tried to make our first post to Connect and it won’t even let me upload a song. The “Done” option is greyed-out and that’s as far as I can get. What a nightmare.
This was their chance to make a service that artists love and could truly share their work and engage their audience in a meaningful way without all the other garbage of the internet surrounding it. But coming out of the gate this pitifully….it’s looking grim now.
…This is depressing.
Who cares about social? Why is it important? The fact that Bandcamp’s only socializations are ‘other people purchased these records’ and ‘here is an email from the label/artist’ is a HUGE selling point, in my opinion.
Do what we need: Get artists paid! Everything else is garbage. I do not need another social network, in fact I would prefer to kill off all the ones I already have. And I am far from the only one who feels this way.
There is a share button on every artist/album page. This is the ultimate form of social: send it to whoever, however.
Um, I care about social. So do a lot of other people. Why does everyone on the internet think they’re the only one on the internet?? There are opinions other than yours.
The reason I want a good social network specifically for music is because this is currently a product that doesn’t exist. I don’t like sharing music on Facebook where it is surrounded by world news, baby pictures, and what people I don’t even know are having for dinner. That is, to me, the antithesis of a good music sharing experience. Facebook’s very nature cheapens art.
Twitter is not conducive to sharing art or music either. You can’t share music on Instagram. My argument was that Apple missed a huge opportunity to build a well-thought out, comprehensive, universal music experience and they blew it. Imagine Facebook if it was designed solely for the distribution of the arts. That would be an amazing thing.
As far as the universal “Share” button, that’s…not the same thing.
I’m not sure why I’m bothering to re-explain any of this to you.
The reason (if you read this article) that the Done is grayed out is because you haven’t clicked on the name of the artist for the song, then pressed space in it, then erased the space, and continued on. Whereas me, I have issues with Uploads simply failing. I can negotiate that ridiculous hook “falsely rename the artist for the song in order to get rid of grayed out Done” but I can’t deal with not being able to actually upload.
Hi there, I know this is now four months old but are you still having this problem, because I am and it’s really frustrating
To me, this is heartbreaking and maddening. I love most of Apple’s products and services, and overall I really think Apple Music is great, but Connect was the part I was looking most forward to. They had an opportunity to revolutionize the music industry (again) and they blew it. Artists NEED a service like this that works. Bandcamp is not remotely social. Soundcloud is semi-social but suffers from serious organizational issues, and the new version of their mobile app is a monstrosity. Facebook is the worst place possible to try and share your music and art if you take your life’s work remotely seriously.
Yesterday I tried to make our first post to Connect and it won’t even let me upload a song. The “Done” option is greyed-out and that’s as far as I can get. What a nightmare.
This was their chance to make a service that artists love and could truly share their work and engage their audience in a meaningful way without all the other garbage of the internet surrounding it. But coming out of the gate this pitifully….it’s looking grim now.
…This is depressing.
Who cares about social? Why is it important? The fact that Bandcamp’s only socializations are ‘other people purchased these records’ and ‘here is an email from the label/artist’ is a HUGE selling point, in my opinion.
Do what we need: Get artists paid! Everything else is garbage. I do not need another social network, in fact I would prefer to kill off all the ones I already have. And I am far from the only one who feels this way.
There is a share button on every artist/album page. This is the ultimate form of social: send it to whoever, however.
Um, I care about social. So do a lot of other people. Why does everyone on the internet think they’re the only one on the internet?? There are opinions other than yours.
The reason I want a good social network specifically for music is because this is currently a product that doesn’t exist. I don’t like sharing music on Facebook where it is surrounded by world news, baby pictures, and what people I don’t even know are having for dinner. That is, to me, the antithesis of a good music sharing experience. Facebook’s very nature cheapens art.
Twitter is not conducive to sharing art or music either. You can’t share music on Instagram. My argument was that Apple missed a huge opportunity to build a well-thought out, comprehensive, universal music experience and they blew it. Imagine Facebook if it was designed solely for the distribution of the arts. That would be an amazing thing.
As far as the universal “Share” button, that’s…not the same thing.
I’m not sure why I’m bothering to re-explain any of this to you.
The reason (if you read this article) that the Done is grayed out is because you haven’t clicked on the name of the artist for the song, then pressed space in it, then erased the space, and continued on. Whereas me, I have issues with Uploads simply failing. I can negotiate that ridiculous hook “falsely rename the artist for the song in order to get rid of grayed out Done” but I can’t deal with not being able to actually upload.
Hi there, I know this is now four months old but are you still having this problem, because I am and it’s really frustrating
I was, eventually, able to upload a full live performance, and a track. I haven’t tried it since a few months ago. Both had the “rename artist before can click Done” issue. As far as I can understand, I can’t post my own music via iTunes on OSX, but rather via iOS. I hope that’ll change eventually 🙂
To me, this is heartbreaking and maddening. I love most of Apple’s products and services, and overall I really think Apple Music is great, but Connect was the part I was looking most forward to. They had an opportunity to revolutionize the music industry (again) and they blew it. Artists NEED a service like this that works. Bandcamp is not remotely social. Soundcloud is semi-social but suffers from serious organizational issues, and the new version of their mobile app is a monstrosity. Facebook is the worst place possible to try and share your music and art if you take your life’s work remotely seriously.
Yesterday I tried to make our first post to Connect and it won’t even let me upload a song. The “Done” option is greyed-out and that’s as far as I can get. What a nightmare.
This was their chance to make a service that artists love and could truly share their work and engage their audience in a meaningful way without all the other garbage of the internet surrounding it. But coming out of the gate this pitifully….it’s looking grim now.
…This is depressing.
Who cares about social? Why is it important? The fact that Bandcamp’s only socializations are ‘other people purchased these records’ and ‘here is an email from the label/artist’ is a HUGE selling point, in my opinion.
Do what we need: Get artists paid! Everything else is garbage. I do not need another social network, in fact I would prefer to kill off all the ones I already have. And I am far from the only one who feels this way.
There is a share button on every artist/album page. This is the ultimate form of social: send it to whoever, however.
Um, I care about social. So do a lot of other people. Why does everyone on the internet think they’re the only one on the internet?? There are opinions other than yours.
The reason I want a good social network specifically for music is because this is currently a product that doesn’t exist. I don’t like sharing music on Facebook where it is surrounded by world news, baby pictures, and what people I don’t even know are having for dinner. That is, to me, the antithesis of a good music sharing experience. Facebook’s very nature cheapens art.
Twitter is not conducive to sharing art or music either. You can’t share music on Instagram. My argument was that Apple missed a huge opportunity to build a well-thought out, comprehensive, universal music experience and they blew it. Imagine Facebook if it was designed solely for the distribution of the arts. That would be an amazing thing.
As far as the universal “Share” button, that’s…not the same thing.
I’m not sure why I’m bothering to re-explain any of this to you.
The reason (if you read this article) that the Done is grayed out is because you haven’t clicked on the name of the artist for the song, then pressed space in it, then erased the space, and continued on. Whereas me, I have issues with Uploads simply failing. I can negotiate that ridiculous hook “falsely rename the artist for the song in order to get rid of grayed out Done” but I can’t deal with not being able to actually upload.
Hi there, I know this is now four months old but are you still having this problem, because I am and it’s really frustrating
I was, eventually, able to upload a full live performance, and a track. I haven’t tried it since a few months ago. Both had the “rename artist before can click Done” issue. As far as I can understand, I can’t post my own music via iTunes on OSX, but rather via iOS. I hope that’ll change eventually 🙂
Yeah, right now connect is lacking. Let’s see how they iterate with the next updates. Something that would be great would be the possibility to post to connect directly via instagram.
Yeah, right now connect is lacking. Let’s see how they iterate with the next updates. Something that would be great would be the possibility to post to connect directly via instagram.
Yeah, right now connect is lacking. Let’s see how they iterate with the next updates. Something that would be great would be the possibility to post to connect directly via instagram.
After using Apple music as a listener for a couple of days i can say i really like how it’s integrated to my current library. The music from Apple Music sits nicely between my bootlegs and cd & vinyl rips downloads from bandcamp, soundcloud and other sites.
But I actually turned off the connect feature on my phone as none of the artists i’m following are posting anything. It was replaced by playlist, which is more valuable for me anyway.
After using Apple music as a listener for a couple of days i can say i really like how it’s integrated to my current library. The music from Apple Music sits nicely between my bootlegs and cd & vinyl rips downloads from bandcamp, soundcloud and other sites.
But I actually turned off the connect feature on my phone as none of the artists i’m following are posting anything. It was replaced by playlist, which is more valuable for me anyway.
After using Apple music as a listener for a couple of days i can say i really like how it’s integrated to my current library. The music from Apple Music sits nicely between my bootlegs and cd & vinyl rips downloads from bandcamp, soundcloud and other sites.
But I actually turned off the connect feature on my phone as none of the artists i’m following are posting anything. It was replaced by playlist, which is more valuable for me anyway.
Hey I think this is an awesome post! I am also running a blog for beginner DJ’s over at aaronslatton.com. Please help me out and check out my post: http://www.aaronslatton.com/find-your-perfect-dj-name/
I would love to hear any feedback.
Hey I think this is an awesome post! I am also running a blog for beginner DJ’s over at aaronslatton.com. Please help me out and check out my post: http://www.aaronslatton.com/find-your-perfect-dj-name/
I would love to hear any feedback.
Hey I think this is an awesome post! I am also running a blog for beginner DJ’s over at aaronslatton.com. Please help me out and check out my post: http://www.aaronslatton.com/find-your-perfect-dj-name/
I would love to hear any feedback.
After 2 days of using it the Connect thing proves to be totally useless for artists. The photos are tiny, there is no way to personalise your profile, the “songs” won’t upload, posting is only available on iOS and the fact that you have to click so many times to get to the artist’s Connect page buried inside your iTunes is just a shame.
Makes me think – why, Apple? What was the point of hiring Zane Lowe and all those cool guys to make such miserable product? They said it could replace all other platforms, but in fact it’s just Apple’s another failed attempt at social media.
to kill beats
After 2 days of using it the Connect thing proves to be totally useless for artists. The photos are tiny, there is no way to personalise your profile, the “songs” won’t upload, posting is only available on iOS and the fact that you have to click so many times to get to the artist’s Connect page buried inside your iTunes is just a shame.
Makes me think – why, Apple? What was the point of hiring Zane Lowe and all those cool guys to make such miserable product? They said it could replace all other platforms, but in fact it’s just Apple’s another failed attempt at social media.
to kill beats
After 2 days of using it the Connect thing proves to be totally useless for artists. The photos are tiny, there is no way to personalise your profile, the “songs” won’t upload, posting is only available on iOS and the fact that you have to click so many times to get to the artist’s Connect page buried inside your iTunes is just a shame.
Makes me think – why, Apple? What was the point of hiring Zane Lowe and all those cool guys to make such miserable product? They said it could replace all other platforms, but in fact it’s just Apple’s another failed attempt at social media.
to kill beats
I’m not having any trouble uploading content to Connect (I have 6 different music projects on my label all with new content now) I’m just having trouble getting even my own friends to actually go to Apple Music/Connect. That’s pretty heartbreaking if this is dead-in-the-water before it even has a chance to really take off. But talking with people, many say they don’t care about Connect at all, stating “Why would I want to follow what a celebrity is posting?”
Regardless, I’m going to keep at it; hoping it will give me more exposure. Here is how one of my music projects looks on Connect (wish there was a way to add a photo banner and bio like Trent Reznor’s page, but I guess that’s reserved for the major artists.)
>> “Why would I want to follow what a celebrity is posting?”
That can be fixed if many artists will post their WIP’s and other exclusive content. Apple should have promoted it as “soundcloud-ish”, rather than “twitter-ish”.
But so far Apple is just opening the door and doing nothing else.
I agree. It does need to be promoted as a more soundcloud thing rather than a twitter thing. On the Macrumors forums there are two threads with people just completely bashing it, saying they would never use it and they don’t like that so far all it is, is a bunch of childish posts like “Follow me, I am handsome.” I was baffled hearing that so I asked one of them to show me one post from an Artist on Connect that is posting “childish” things… they sent a screenshot of the 2000+ fan comments on Pharrell Williams photo that he posted… they thought the fan comments were “Connect”. People are just not getting what Connect is really about. Oh well…
I’m not having any trouble uploading content to Connect (I have 6 different music projects on my label all with new content now) I’m just having trouble getting even my own friends to actually go to Apple Music/Connect. That’s pretty heartbreaking if this is dead-in-the-water before it even has a chance to really take off. But talking with people, many say they don’t care about Connect at all, stating “Why would I want to follow what a celebrity is posting?”
Regardless, I’m going to keep at it; hoping it will give me more exposure. Here is how one of my music projects looks on Connect (wish there was a way to add a photo banner and bio like Trent Reznor’s page, but I guess that’s reserved for the major artists.)
>> “Why would I want to follow what a celebrity is posting?”
That can be fixed if many artists will post their WIP’s and other exclusive content. Apple should have promoted it as “soundcloud-ish”, rather than “twitter-ish”.
But so far Apple is just opening the door and doing nothing else.
I agree. It does need to be promoted as a more soundcloud thing rather than a twitter thing. On the Macrumors forums there are two threads with people just completely bashing it, saying they would never use it and they don’t like that so far all it is, is a bunch of childish posts like “Follow me, I am handsome.” I was baffled hearing that so I asked one of them to show me one post from an Artist on Connect that is posting “childish” things… they sent a screenshot of the 2000+ fan comments on Pharrell Williams photo that he posted… they thought the fan comments were “Connect”. People are just not getting what Connect is really about. Oh well…
I’m not having any trouble uploading content to Connect (I have 6 different music projects on my label all with new content now) I’m just having trouble getting even my own friends to actually go to Apple Music/Connect. That’s pretty heartbreaking if this is dead-in-the-water before it even has a chance to really take off. But talking with people, many say they don’t care about Connect at all, stating “Why would I want to follow what a celebrity is posting?”
Regardless, I’m going to keep at it; hoping it will give me more exposure. Here is how one of my music projects looks on Connect (wish there was a way to add a photo banner and bio like Trent Reznor’s page, but I guess that’s reserved for the major artists.)
>> “Why would I want to follow what a celebrity is posting?”
That can be fixed if many artists will post their WIP’s and other exclusive content. Apple should have promoted it as “soundcloud-ish”, rather than “twitter-ish”.
But so far Apple is just opening the door and doing nothing else.
I agree. It does need to be promoted as a more soundcloud thing rather than a twitter thing. On the Macrumors forums there are two threads with people just completely bashing it, saying they would never use it and they don’t like that so far all it is, is a bunch of childish posts like “Follow me, I am handsome.” I was baffled hearing that so I asked one of them to show me one post from an Artist on Connect that is posting “childish” things… they sent a screenshot of the 2000+ fan comments on Pharrell Williams photo that he posted… they thought the fan comments were “Connect”. People are just not getting what Connect is really about. Oh well…
And there I was thinking that iTunes was the worst software a company had ever conned people into using. I guess now it will have to take second place.
Apple Music is part of iTunes
And there I was thinking that iTunes was the worst software a company had ever conned people into using. I guess now it will have to take second place.
Apple Music is part of iTunes
And there I was thinking that iTunes was the worst software a company had ever conned people into using. I guess now it will have to take second place.
Apple Music is part of iTunes
Bandcamp is my favourite place to buy music. I will forever support it as a platform and it’s also the one that gives artists the most money.
Bandcamp is my favourite place to buy music. I will forever support it as a platform and it’s also the one that gives artists the most money.
Bandcamp is my favourite place to buy music. I will forever support it as a platform and it’s also the one that gives artists the most money.
It’s terribly limiting. I’ve been at it all day thinking I’d done something wrong. I’ve been an Apple fan forever (literally) and, owning an ad agency, have purchased hundreds of Macs in my life. I DID manage to post a photo in one Connect post, and some music from my iTunes album in another. But it’s just pitiful. I got psyched up from the WD presentation. And am sufficiently let down. Terrible.
It’s terribly limiting. I’ve been at it all day thinking I’d done something wrong. I’ve been an Apple fan forever (literally) and, owning an ad agency, have purchased hundreds of Macs in my life. I DID manage to post a photo in one Connect post, and some music from my iTunes album in another. But it’s just pitiful. I got psyched up from the WD presentation. And am sufficiently let down. Terrible.
It’s terribly limiting. I’ve been at it all day thinking I’d done something wrong. I’ve been an Apple fan forever (literally) and, owning an ad agency, have purchased hundreds of Macs in my life. I DID manage to post a photo in one Connect post, and some music from my iTunes album in another. But it’s just pitiful. I got psyched up from the WD presentation. And am sufficiently let down. Terrible.
Yeah, for those of us artists who don’t own any physical Apple devices, this is just one big absurd circle jerk and phenomenal waste of time so far…
tell me about it….
Yeah, for those of us artists who don’t own any physical Apple devices, this is just one big absurd circle jerk and phenomenal waste of time so far…
tell me about it….
Yeah, for those of us artists who don’t own any physical Apple devices, this is just one big absurd circle jerk and phenomenal waste of time so far…
tell me about it….
This is a huge fuck up so far because you cannot post content with iPad or a MacBook… only with iPhone… (not to mention PC …)
This is a huge fuck up so far because you cannot post content with iPad or a MacBook… only with iPhone… (not to mention PC …)
This is a huge fuck up so far because you cannot post content with iPad or a MacBook… only with iPhone… (not to mention PC …)