I am here to be a freak, but not for Apple Music - for iTunes. I’ve been maintaining my library since 2007 and the amount of filing/cataloguing options is amazing. Thanks to a backwards method (using iTunes on my PC and therefore avoiding the compulsory shift from iTunes to Apple Music on a Mac), I’m happily mixing my older, owned albums with newer albums that I stream. I know it’s not for everyone, but I’m pretty pleased to have many folders of playlists for any occasion. I honestly get a bit weirded out by people who don’t want to own their music long term; streaming services can just take media off their libraries and I don’t want to lose my favourites due to corporate whims.
This is exactly what I'm terrified about. Apple could at some point decide Apple Music is no longer a priority and it becomes even more shit. Or it could up its prices to make them unsustainable.
So you have a really old version of iTunes that never has to be updated and it still runs OK?
iTunes is still supported by Apple on their site for Microsoft! (They even offer downloads for previous versions if you go digging) Doubtless it’s missing some shiny Apple Music features but that’s fine by me - and it seems to integrate the changes I make on my iPhone with Apple Music just fine. I do pay an Apple Music fee, so it means my top level library is a combo of owned files and downloaded/streamed files. As a “just in case”, I’ve got a lot of music backed up and I try to buy albums that I find myself listening to on repeat.
Ugh, so I’ve had a few beers and I’m on the train home from Amsterdam reading this, another of your consistently great articles, thanks Chris, and i think the straw just broke this camel’s back.. if the camel is my ability to hold back a public response to complaints about the music industry and streaming in particular..
In 2024:
* You can make music cheaply with digital tools.
* You can promote it for free, with tremendous reach, via social media.
* Spotify/Apple/Soundcloud/Tidal etc showcases your music, provides a universally-accessible platform and provides an income to more musicians than ever before in the history of recorded music.
When I first began releasing music in 2005:
* Music was astronomically expensive to make.
* Music was astronomically expensive to put into physical form and distribution was gatekept by extremely powerful entities.
* Promotion was astronomically expensive (via traditional media channels) and gate-keepers (major record labels) ruled radio/TV/magazines etc.
*Your ONLY avenue to affordable exposure and thus, income, was via playing live - which only really seemed affordable because we'd justify it by saying all the time/rehearsal rooms/flyer and poster runs/venue booking/instrument hire and stage equipment/buying or renting vans/merch creation costs/etc, was worth it because we got to perform in front of real people and sell a few CDs and t-shirts.
You may also notice that, like the heady days of Napster and Limewire, it is the aging and traditionally-minded cohort of musicians that are complaining… while thousands and thousands of young and risk-taking, creative musicians
are forging healthy, sustainable careers.. so maybe we should expose more of their stories and strategies and share a pathway for adaptation for those who are struggling… 🤷♂️
I agree: there are a tonne of acts making it work, sometimes very well. I can't help but think of SXMPRA and Lilbubblegum, two acts barely anyone's heard about at home but are absolutely crushing almost every other NZ artist on Spotify. They make music from their bedrooms, share it on social media, and connect that way. It is doable. It can be easy. The traditional barriers have broken down.
I guess the point I was trying to make was, is my money going to the right place? Is Apple Music a good thing? Or is there something better I could be spending my $500 a year music streaming budget on?
Or screenshot them or put them into Microsoft word if you can highlight it with the mouse in a Mac from the Apple Music.
Get that $500 and use it to buy the CDs, that hold the music you’re using. Or $500 can get a range of gig tickets. Even if you’re buying new CDs at up to $30 new - that’s 16 CDs.
Some CDs are much cheaper and if they are older ones can be sourced secondhand from real groovy. Digitise the albums and store them in the cloud, on a hard drive or on a small memory stick.
After three years without Apple Music you could have 48 CDs if each was new.
If you have more you need and the cost of cds is too expensive use YouTube for free. Or stream free Spotify if you don’t mind ads. Don’t use vinyl. It’s expensive.
I just typed Spotify family into Google. Supposedly in New Zealand it is $25.99 a month for six people. I calculated that times 12 and it was $311.88. So it appears to be cheaper than Apple if it was something that suited.
I subscribe to Apple for the storage for photos it costs me about a dollar something a month. I haven’t gotten into streaming anything on Apple because I’m not entirely sure how to stream on it.I was using a free version of Spotify for a while.
My phone is Apple and so is my MacBook. I have been using Apple for some years now. But never tried to use its streaming service or iTunes.
I have started buying more CDs at the moment after a hiatus I was also using YouTube to listen to music and iHeartRadio on an Alexa.
Having never owned an Apple device, I find Apple and its products impossibly perverse to operate, inscrutable to troubleshoot, and predatory as providers of services. Every streamer has its pros and cons, I have a soft spot for Soundcloud, which allows the deepest dive into a new artist's creative process, and easily takes you off-algorithm into real human spaces. I wish bandcamp had a better flow, but it's often the best way to support an artist and own their work. Spotify has the best sound, i don't care what Neil says. Youtube music is great for album playlists.
You don't like country? I prefer the classic beer-crying stuff to indie Americana. The perfect country album is The Flatlanders' Odessa Tapes.
I am here to be a freak, but not for Apple Music - for iTunes. I’ve been maintaining my library since 2007 and the amount of filing/cataloguing options is amazing. Thanks to a backwards method (using iTunes on my PC and therefore avoiding the compulsory shift from iTunes to Apple Music on a Mac), I’m happily mixing my older, owned albums with newer albums that I stream. I know it’s not for everyone, but I’m pretty pleased to have many folders of playlists for any occasion. I honestly get a bit weirded out by people who don’t want to own their music long term; streaming services can just take media off their libraries and I don’t want to lose my favourites due to corporate whims.
This is exactly what I'm terrified about. Apple could at some point decide Apple Music is no longer a priority and it becomes even more shit. Or it could up its prices to make them unsustainable.
So you have a really old version of iTunes that never has to be updated and it still runs OK?
Do you still have to pay a subscription fee?
Incredible.
iTunes is still supported by Apple on their site for Microsoft! (They even offer downloads for previous versions if you go digging) Doubtless it’s missing some shiny Apple Music features but that’s fine by me - and it seems to integrate the changes I make on my iPhone with Apple Music just fine. I do pay an Apple Music fee, so it means my top level library is a combo of owned files and downloaded/streamed files. As a “just in case”, I’ve got a lot of music backed up and I try to buy albums that I find myself listening to on repeat.
(Apologies if this paragraph reads a bit odd - typing on my phone so hard to format well)
Ugh, so I’ve had a few beers and I’m on the train home from Amsterdam reading this, another of your consistently great articles, thanks Chris, and i think the straw just broke this camel’s back.. if the camel is my ability to hold back a public response to complaints about the music industry and streaming in particular..
In 2024:
* You can make music cheaply with digital tools.
* You can promote it for free, with tremendous reach, via social media.
* Spotify/Apple/Soundcloud/Tidal etc showcases your music, provides a universally-accessible platform and provides an income to more musicians than ever before in the history of recorded music.
When I first began releasing music in 2005:
* Music was astronomically expensive to make.
* Music was astronomically expensive to put into physical form and distribution was gatekept by extremely powerful entities.
* Promotion was astronomically expensive (via traditional media channels) and gate-keepers (major record labels) ruled radio/TV/magazines etc.
*Your ONLY avenue to affordable exposure and thus, income, was via playing live - which only really seemed affordable because we'd justify it by saying all the time/rehearsal rooms/flyer and poster runs/venue booking/instrument hire and stage equipment/buying or renting vans/merch creation costs/etc, was worth it because we got to perform in front of real people and sell a few CDs and t-shirts.
You may also notice that, like the heady days of Napster and Limewire, it is the aging and traditionally-minded cohort of musicians that are complaining… while thousands and thousands of young and risk-taking, creative musicians
are forging healthy, sustainable careers.. so maybe we should expose more of their stories and strategies and share a pathway for adaptation for those who are struggling… 🤷♂️
So, just to confirm, you're a Daniel Ek fan? :)
I agree: there are a tonne of acts making it work, sometimes very well. I can't help but think of SXMPRA and Lilbubblegum, two acts barely anyone's heard about at home but are absolutely crushing almost every other NZ artist on Spotify. They make music from their bedrooms, share it on social media, and connect that way. It is doable. It can be easy. The traditional barriers have broken down.
I guess the point I was trying to make was, is my money going to the right place? Is Apple Music a good thing? Or is there something better I could be spending my $500 a year music streaming budget on?
Yes, Chris.
Get a notebook and write down your playlists.
Or screenshot them or put them into Microsoft word if you can highlight it with the mouse in a Mac from the Apple Music.
Get that $500 and use it to buy the CDs, that hold the music you’re using. Or $500 can get a range of gig tickets. Even if you’re buying new CDs at up to $30 new - that’s 16 CDs.
Some CDs are much cheaper and if they are older ones can be sourced secondhand from real groovy. Digitise the albums and store them in the cloud, on a hard drive or on a small memory stick.
After three years without Apple Music you could have 48 CDs if each was new.
If you have more you need and the cost of cds is too expensive use YouTube for free. Or stream free Spotify if you don’t mind ads. Don’t use vinyl. It’s expensive.
But … what will I stream?
And I like my vinyl!!!
But you wanted to save money and jettison Apple. There are few alternatives if you don’t like Spotify 🍎 😀
I’m not a Spotify fan no. And I’s have to transfer four accounts! Mine, my wife’s, and the kids…
I’ve just found that Amazon music family account seems much cheaper than apple and Spotify
I just typed Spotify family into Google. Supposedly in New Zealand it is $25.99 a month for six people. I calculated that times 12 and it was $311.88. So it appears to be cheaper than Apple if it was something that suited.
I subscribe to Apple for the storage for photos it costs me about a dollar something a month. I haven’t gotten into streaming anything on Apple because I’m not entirely sure how to stream on it.I was using a free version of Spotify for a while.
My phone is Apple and so is my MacBook. I have been using Apple for some years now. But never tried to use its streaming service or iTunes.
I have started buying more CDs at the moment after a hiatus I was also using YouTube to listen to music and iHeartRadio on an Alexa.
Having never owned an Apple device, I find Apple and its products impossibly perverse to operate, inscrutable to troubleshoot, and predatory as providers of services. Every streamer has its pros and cons, I have a soft spot for Soundcloud, which allows the deepest dive into a new artist's creative process, and easily takes you off-algorithm into real human spaces. I wish bandcamp had a better flow, but it's often the best way to support an artist and own their work. Spotify has the best sound, i don't care what Neil says. Youtube music is great for album playlists.
You don't like country? I prefer the classic beer-crying stuff to indie Americana. The perfect country album is The Flatlanders' Odessa Tapes.
Apple Music just now started playing country music to me - Morgan Williams.
But I respect your taste so I will try your recommendation out today :)
Yeah I'm feeling more and more trapped the deeper I get into this ecosystem.
HELP!