For something like this, yeah, Apple default is probably that strong. Considering that it'll button right into all of their hardware (laptop, iPad, iPhone), I could see it being a fairly significant thing for them. It's one less app to have to use, one less payment interface to deal with, and integrate with whatever music the user already has.
Not to mention that Apple probably has a lot more clout in the bargaining arena with the record labels than Spotify does, and a LOT more cash to throw around.
The ideal solution would be Apple fixing that - allowing for a user-defined default player. I'm sad to say it, but if that doesn't become a reality, I may be tempted to switch to Apple's streaming service for that one reason alone.
Apple is intended to be a walled garden rather than a true equal platform for the app devs. As much as I like Apple hardware I hate their mobile OS because of this approach of building special integrations for their built in apps that you can't even remove, while denying other app devs access to the full range of device integration, except if you go through their limited API's.
I would generally agree; for the vast majority of people the "notes" app works just fine, no need to install evernote or simplenote or whatever.
But in this instance, Apple is expecting you to shell out $10/month. I think that likely kills most of the inertia of, "Well, it's on my phone, I don't need another app." I could be wrong, though. Regardless, I'm not cancelling my Spotify subscription anytime soon.
Spotify asks for that too. And unlike Spotify, Apple already has your payment details. You don't even need to enter your password with this thumb thing.
Yeah, a new service that offers a larger selection for the same price, and will be preinstalled to the majority of their customers phones, and free for 3 months will sure be a great cause for celebration...
>The reason I loved my iPod is because I didn't have to listen to the radio.
And one reason iPod et al. got boring and people turned to places like Spotify is because it's not radio (that is, it's not a shared social experience). That's why stuff like Spotify playlists (curated music) got hundreds of thousands of subscribers. And DJs haven't died, they just took it outside radio, and into arenas, because modern radio has both annoying ads and marketing-oriented programming, something that this announcement is not meant to share.
If done right it could be big, and things can come and go in circles. Heck, there are millions of hipster kids out there buying vinyl, which wasn't even in fashion when they were born.
Regardless, the marketing behind it was atrocious, relative to standard Apple marketing. The entire "one last thing" of the keynote was, in a word, cringeworthy.
The only reason I listen to Spotify is because there is no decent alternative with a sufficient catalog. Like many, I've been dying for a better alternative.
I don't know if Apple Music will be it, but I do remember what the iPod and iTunes did to the MP3 player.
There wasn't one thing in the entire presentation that was even intriguing, let alone in innovative. The reason I loved my iPod is because I didn't have to listen to the radio. And now Apple is making that the killer feature? RADIO? Like it's freaking 2002?
Other than that and artist communication (which I would maybe care about for one artist), Apple Music is Spotify. Their solution for finding what you want to listen to? "I like rock and alternative" (whatever that means). This has been done a dozen times, and rarely well.
Spotify has been iterating exact same concept for years and has all of my friends listening to it, as well as all of my playlists. People tell me Rdio is similar, but I've never had reason to use it. The only way Apple wins is if the power of something being the Apple default is truly that strong. Having Siri integration is literally the only thing that Apple has a leg up on any of the other music services on.
And then they call it "revolutionary" and throw it in a "ONE MORE THING!" slot? That's pretty bad. And I'm an Apple fanboy.