Why would you use Apple Music?
Access to Millions of Songs
Apple Music grants access to over 90 million songs, making it one of the largest music catalogs among major streaming services (source). With such an extensive library, you’ll be able to find all of your favorite artists and discover new ones across virtually every genre. The catalog includes both major label content as well as music from prominent independent labels and artists.
Many streaming platforms have catalogs in the 50-60 million range, while Apple Music’s catalog of over 90 million songs stands above competitors (source). Even for obscure, older, or more niche artists, you’ll likely find what you’re looking for within Apple Music’s expansive libraries. The size of the catalog also continues growing on a regular basis as new music is constantly added.
Human-Curated Playlists
One of the key benefits of Apple Music is the extensive collection of human-curated playlists created by musical experts and editors. As Apple Music’s catalog has grown to over 100 million songs (Musically), expert curation has become more important than ever for connecting listeners with music they’ll enjoy.
The Apple Music editorial team hand-picks songs to create playlists optimized for every mood, genre, and activity imaginable. From upbeat pop music to chill study mixes, there are human-curated Apple Music playlists tailored specifically for cooking, relaxing, working out, commuting, and more.
These playlists are carefully crafted by editors with deep knowledge of the genres, artists, and songs that fit each context. Relying on both data and human curation results in playlists that flow seamlessly while introducing listeners to music perfectly suited for the moment.
Beats Radio Stations
With Apple Music you get access to an ever-growing number of expertly curated radio stations that play everything from hip hop and R&B to house, techno, chill, pop hits, country, rock, and more. The stations are hosted by renowned DJs who put their own spin on the music and talk about their inspirations between songs. This makes for a lively, human-curated listening experience you won’t find anywhere else. According to Apple, they have launched over 1,000 stations spanning 165 genres and 33 countries
Works on iOS, MacOS, Android
One of the key benefits of Apple Music is that it offers native apps for iOS, MacOS, and Android devices (https://www.apple.com/apple-music/). This makes Apple Music highly accessible, as users can enjoy the service directly on their iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and even Android smartphones and tablets.
The Apple Music app provides a seamless listening experience across Apple devices thanks to tight integration with iOS and MacOS. On iPhone and iPad, Apple Music syncs playlists and recommendations via iCloud, allows Siri voice control, and supports handoff between devices. On Mac, the Music app lets you access your full music library with advanced listen features like lyrics view.
For Android users, Apple offers an official Apple Music app on Google Play. The Android app provides access to the full Apple Music catalog and features like offline listening and radio stations. While not as deeply integrated as on Apple’s platforms, the Android app allows virtually anyone to subscribe and use Apple Music.
By supporting the major mobile and desktop platforms, Apple Music makes it easy for users to enjoy their music collection across all their devices with a consistent app experience.
Family Sharing
One of the key benefits of Apple Music is the ability to share subscriptions with up to 5 family members through Family Sharing. This allows you to have one Apple Music subscription that can be accessed by multiple people in your family group. Family Sharing makes it easy to share not just Apple Music, but also other Apple services like Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and iCloud storage.
With Family Sharing set up, each family member gets their own personal account within the group. They can all listen to Apple Music at the same time on different devices. You can add and remove family members at any time. The organizer pays for any subscription renewals from their account.
Overall, Family Sharing provides a convenient way for families to access and share Apple services without each person needing their own individual subscription. For Apple Music listeners, it’s a great value to be able to split the cost while still getting full access.
Downloads for Offline Listening
One of the key features of Apple Music is the ability to download songs, playlists, and albums for offline listening when you don’t have an internet connection (1). This is perfect for situations like long plane rides, road trips, or when you are somewhere without WiFi or cellular service. According to Apple, you can download up to 100,000 songs to your device (2).
Downloading music for offline listening is easy – just tap the download icon next to any song, playlist or album. Downloaded content is then accessible in the Downloads section of your Apple Music library. Anything you download will stay on your device until you delete it manually. This means you don’t have to worry about downloaded content expiring after a certain time period.
The ability to listen offline is one of the major advantages Apple Music has over some competing music streaming services. It allows you to access your favorite music anytime, anywhere even without an internet connection.
Sources:
(1) https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253210147
(2) https://www.viwizard.com/apple-music-tips/apple-music-download-limit.html
Lyrics Integration
One of the standout features of Apple Music is its ability to display synchronized lyrics as you listen to songs. This allows you to easily read along and even sing along to your favorite tracks. According to Apple support, when you play a song from the Apple Music catalog, lyrics will automatically appear at the bottom of the screen on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad (1).
On Macs, you can view lyrics in the Music app or iTunes by enabling the “Show Lyrics” option (2). The lyrics scroll in real-time, highlighting the current line and making it effortless to follow along. Apple obtains lyric licensing from music publishers to power this seamless integration. If lyrics are unavailable for a particular track, users can also add in lyrics manually.
Overall, the synchronized lyrics feature enhances the listening experience, turning Apple Music into a karaoke machine right from your own device. It’s especially useful for singing along to songs in languages you may not understand fluently.
Sources:
(1) https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204459
(2) https://support.apple.com/guide/music-web/view-lyrics-apdm5e4a7164/web
AirPlay 2 Support
One of the key features of Apple Music is its integration with AirPlay, Apple’s proprietary wireless streaming protocol. With AirPlay 2 support, you can easily stream audio from Apple Music directly to any AirPlay 2-enabled speakers, including HomePod mini, without needing an Apple TV.
This allows you to enjoy high quality wireless audio anywhere in your home. You can start listening on your iPhone and seamlessly transition to playing on HomePod in another room. AirPlay 2 also supports multi-room audio, allowing you to sync playback across multiple speakers.
According to Apple, AirPlay 2 uses lossless audio transmission, meaning there is no loss of audio quality when streaming to speakers. This allows you to enjoy the fidelity of Apple Music’s lossless streaming tier even when listening on AirPlay 2 speakers.
Siri Integration
One of the key features of Apple Music is the ability to use Siri to control music playback. With just your voice, you can ask Siri to play songs, albums, playlists, or stations from Apple Music’s catalog of over 90 million songs (1).
Some examples of Siri commands for Apple Music include:
– Play [song name]
– Play the album [album name]
– Play playlist
– Play some [genre] music
– Play something I’d like
– Skip this song
– Turn it up / turn it down
You can even ask Siri questions about the music like “Who is the lead singer?” or “When was this song released?” to get info on the currently playing track (1).
Siri makes it quick and convenient to control music playback on iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, CarPlay, HomePod and other Apple devices without needing to unlock your device or open the Music app. Hands-free voice control with Siri allows you to safely listen to tunes while driving, exercising, cooking or doing other activities.
[1] Use Siri to play music and podcasts. Apple Support. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
Experience Immersive Sound with Spatial Audio
One of the standout features of Apple Music is Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Spatial Audio provides an immersive listening experience by using directional audio filters to make music feel like it’s coming at you from all directions.1 With Spatial Audio, songs are mixed in surround sound to deliver a multidimensional experience and make you feel like you’re inside the music.
Apple Music has a growing catalog of songs available in Spatial Audio from various genres like rock, pop, hip hop, jazz, and more. The platform continues to add new Spatial Audio playlists regularly.2 Both new releases and classic hits are remixed for Spatial Audio to bring older music back to life.
To take full advantage of Spatial Audio, compatible headphones like AirPods Pro or AirPods Max are recommended. Spatial Audio support also extends across Apple devices including iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, allowing you to enjoy an immersive experience wherever you listen.