In a rare showing, Apple has acknowledged that there is still “a bit of homework to be done” when it comes to improving one of its products — in this case, Apple Music.
The company’s streaming music service has seen mixed success since its launch back in June, with reports of falling listenership and even a public slating from a well-known pro-Apple pundit.
Recently Apple Music’s senior director upped and left the company, with no word on whether it was his or Apple’s decision to step down.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, iTunes International VP Oliver Shusser says that:
“There’s a lot of work going into making the product better. Our focus is on editorial and playlists, and obviously we have teams all around the world working on that, but we’re also adding features and cleaning up certain things.”
With few exceptions, it’s an admission you likely wouldn’t have seen under Steve Jobs — and rarely see under Tim Cook.
“Apple Music Connect is growing big-time with more and more artists connecting to their fans, but we still have a bit of homework to be done for the rest of the year,” Shusser continued.
In terms of criticism about usability, Shusser says that Apple has gotten lots of user suggestions regarding Apple Music. “Remember, this was a very big launch in 110 markets instantly, so we get a ton of feedback. We’re obviously trying to make it better every day.”
He also says that Apple Music will launch for Android devices and Sonos-connected hi-fis this fall. “We still have some work to do there, but that’s coming,” he said.
Finally, Shusser notes that Apple Music is being viewed as a long-haul project inside Apple. “That’s more our priority than checking every hour the amount of people who have signed up. We have more of a long-term perspective on this,” he noted.
Are you currently using Apple Music? If so, what have been your experiences so far? Leave your comments in the box below.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
9 responses to “Apple admits there’s ‘homework to be done’ with Apple Music”
Hate having to download multiple copies of songs on each device/library. Should be able to transfer songs across devices without having to use up gigabytes of data allowances
I’ve had luck transferring to device by clicking the three dots next to the playlist and “add to” “your device”. The dialog is terrible though. You still may have to click make available offline in order to see it appear that way on the list. Apple needs to simplify this and make it intuitive. Love that I can listen to stuff I never got around to buying. It is a brave new world.
Love it. Hope to never not have it
I love Apple Music with one exception. For some reason on my iPhone 6 plus, I have to turn up the volume all the way and I still would like it louder. I travel by bus and train and I can still hear background noise, and I don’t mean the loud noise. I mean people conversating and stuff! Otherwise its awesome!
After opening the app i get asked if i want to join. Ive been a member since day one. A bjt annoying. Freezes my offline downloads.
Not a fan I don’t like how your personal library and the Apple Music collection isn’t separated I want to know what I own vs. don’t and call me old school I like to own my music. The playlists are too short as well. The iTunes Radio replacement is harder to navigate. However I do like bringing up next from iTunes to the Music App I love it on my computer.
I like the curated playlists. However,I don’t like not being able to edit them. Also don’t like that my playlists from itunes don’t seem to come across unless every song uploads. I like the app pretty good on the iphone, especially the way I can filter out explicit songs. In itunes on windows it will just stop playing a song in the middle. The whole “my music and my actual music from itunes” integration seems a horrible mess. Most don’t upload, if they do, there’s a good chance I’ve got multiple copies of the song in the same album. I wouldn’t even care if there was just a way to upload my ratings only for the songs and not have to upload anything.
I really like Apple Music. It took a little while to get the hang of how it was organized, but now that I am comfortable with the integration of iTunes Match, my library and the streaming library I find I am listening to more music and purchasing more music from iTunes. I am going to continue the service after the trial has expired. The suggestions have been very helpful and spot on. So far I’m happy with all that Apple has managed to deliver and I know it will only get better.
apple Music represents an important and vital way to listen to new music. To people familiar with iTunes, there will be no problem switching from other services.