Apple Music: Connect
Someone asked why I believed that Connect would ever be better than Ping, Apple’s previous attempt at socialifying iTunes. Ping’s mistake was that it tried to connect listeners to each other, as a way of discovering new music. Apple Music has re-thought that problem in some very interesting ways, and early indications are that the new approach works. For the social component, Connect wants to be about connecting artists with their listeners, but at the moment, it falls short.
Based on Wiskus’ documentation, it looks like it lacks the litheness of Twitter, the scale and engagement of Facebook, and the demo tape feel of SoundCloud. I don’t quite know what to make of it yet.
Why not let artists pick songs from iCloud Drive, for example? Having to sync via iTunes on your Mac to post from your iPhone is so 2008.
If Apple Music can be thought of as Beats Music 2.0, then the Connect tab is probably a little like Ping 2.0, an update on Apple’s first attempt to build a music-only social network. As Daniel and I discussed on Core Intuition 187, any service that demonstrates a network effect — everything from eBay to Twitter — needs some critical mass of users to reach its potential. I was curious whether Apple could achieve this if the Connect feature was locked behind a paid subscription after the initial 3-month trial.
What I missed is that Connect and even Beats 1 will be free.
Artists postings thus far have been less than stellar. I think Apple has made a massive mistake billing Connect as a place to follow musicians. Connect is actually a wonderful service being squandered by Apple. The things that Apple is expecting artists to post just aren’t that interesting. Links to their own music and original photos or videos are relatively weak sauce, and the posts have been few and far between for most artists.
However, Connect is great for sharing exactly what I came to the Music app for: music. The trouble is most artists aren’t posting music; they’re promoting themselves in a fairly bland manner. I’ve found the best people to follow are DJs and performers with shows on Beats 1, as well as Apple’s in-house “curators.”
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Right now anyone can share playlists through Apple Music. However, not anyone can get an account that can be followed. When that happens, I think Connect will be, unabashedly, the best music social network on the planet. The trouble right now is that Apple wants it to be a “a place where musicians give their fans a closer look at their work, their inspirations, and their world.” That’s not an interesting enough proposition.
By default, iTunes Connect auto-follows all the artists in your music library, regardless of how much you listen to them, whether they’re on a compilation, or whether you even want to see posts from them. For example, because of that whole U2 fiaso, you’re probably automatically following them, too. Turning that behaviour off is a little hidden, as Steven Troughton-Smith and Anthony F Waller found.
Update (2015-07-20): Kelly Hodgkins:
Connect isn’t for everyone, and you can remove it from Apple Music if you’re not interested. Once removed from Apple Music, the Connect tab is conveniently replaced by Playlists. Here’s how to make the switch.
Update (2015-08-21): Mitchel Broussard:
Following an interview yesterday with Evening Standard, Wired today posted an interview with Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine, in which the Beats co-founder admits the company’s need to work to make Connect a better platform for artists and fans alike, and even hints at a possible curation aspect for Apple TV, similar to that of the company’s new streaming music service.
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[…] Tsai has a great roundup of views of Apple’s Music Connect service. That’s the tab that puts you in contact with various bands. He didn’t quote it, but […]
