~Fanboy~
I got my first iPod in my second year at the university. It was the all new iPod Touch and not many people on campus had one. I remember not having enough money to get one and I knew I couldn’t ask my dad because he’d ask me if it was an asset or a liability and have me tell him the real importance of the iPod. So I turned to someone who wouldn’t ask me any question as to why I wanted to acquire a shiny overpriced (in retrospect) piece of shiny metal music pocket computer gadget device – my mom. She sent me money. I added it to what I already had, gave the money to Ebenezer (Shot), got my first piece of Apple hardware. This here is the origin story of an undeniable fanboyism.
~When Elephants Fight…~
My first music streaming experience started with Pandora many years ago. It was nice to be able to log into a computer and stream music I didn’t have stored locally in the computer. It wasn’t until I discovered Songza however, that I truly enjoyed the streaming experience.
It was a free service with a beautiful, simple UI and some really interesting approach to song selection and playlists. Besides the really well thought out user interface and experience, Songza initially didn’t require VPN for me to stream in Nigeria.
Time came for Apple to go into streaming, Google was going in as well and Spotify were already miles ahead of the competition. Google acquired Songza and pretty much ruined it. Google Play Music wouldn’t stream in HD without being choppy at the time (I haven’t tried it in a while), and even though the key Songza features were ported over the experience with Google Music was far from exhilarating.
~It just works~
As far as free streaming options go, Pandora and Amazon Music have been my go to. Even though unlike Spotify, Pandora doesn’t allow album streaming, I’m still unbothered. I personally find the album shuffle on Spotify irritating so I stay away from it altogether. Once a while, I try out Spotify again until a public service announcement for ad free music come on and I’m reminded that I do not remotely appreciate this type of advertising and then I uninstall again. Amazon Music is one of the very many perks of a Prime membership and I must admit, it is a really good streaming option. I am yet to try out Deezer even though I have heard some interesting things about it. And then finally I have the default music app on my phone which occasionally advertises music plans to me. Thanks Apple.
The entire plethora of music options and the segmented nature of ‘my ecosystem versus yours’ has left many consumers with way too many tentacles of apps and services especially with Music considering Apple and Google have music streaming services. I purchase most of my music on Apple Music except for the records I get from the Jazz Hole, Amazon and Barnes and Noble — of which most of the records from the latter two come with an ‘autorip’ feature which includes digital copies of the music.
It really won’t hurt Apple much to have a free tier of Apple Music for iPhone owners. Apple have some of the most loyal customers in the world and this option will not only keep them in the ecosystem, it will also be a very good incentive for people looking to migrate from other ecosystems/devices. Being one of the few one of the few offering Apple has in the Android-verse, Apple Music is on the rise and it seems it will continue to be despite stiff competition all around.Users could have fewer access to catalogs and playlist management and even ads can be included! Just being able to make the Music app useful and default again for a lot of customers will be a welcome return to the basics.