Roger Fingas
Apple still has "a bit of homework to be done" throughout the rest of 2015 to improve Apple Music, including fixing problems with the service's interface and handling of local iTunes libraries, an iTunes International VP said on Thursday.
The company's current focus is on "editorial and playlists," Oliver Schusser told U.K. newspaper The Guardian. The company is also said to be working on adding features and cleaning up different aspects of the service, though Schusser did not elaborate on details.
The executive specifically said little to address the most serious complaints about Apple Music, which have included an awkward interface, and iCloud Music Library mislabeling or even erasing local iTunes libraries.
"The product is always our priority, and we are getting a lot of feedback," Schusser responded. "Remember, this was a very big launch in 110 markets instantly, so we get a ton of feedback. We're obviously trying to make it better every day."
He noted that the company is still planning to bring the service to Android and Sonos devices sometime this fall.
More information could be announced as soon as Apple's Sept. 9 press event, although the focus is expected to be on new iPhones and an updated Apple TV, the latter of which should get Apple Music as well. Alternately, Apple commonly hosts a second press event in October.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
29 Comments
If they can work out all the rough edges (like weird offline downloading) then it will be great. In theory, I love it, but there are too many places where it just doesn't work yet. Hoping most of the kinks are worked out by ios9
Well they say they're working on it. Nice.
Wasn't ready for primetime.
For me the ability to be able to play mosts songs from Siri is super. And certain things about the UI for the Music app I like a lot. I like the mini player and the animations.
On my iMac 5K I can't get Apple Music to show up on iTunes, on my MBA is shows up fine. It's telling me to update iTunes on the 5K to see Apple Music but it is up to date.
You should never judge a company's brand new product on either 1) the way it works on day one, or 2) it's potential. The first error assumes that a new product ought to be perfect right off the bat when it's introduced into the wild (or its doomed to fail), and the second error assumes that the company will inevitably get it right. If you want to know why Apple has developed such great products outside of its original product line (since Steve Jobs took over again in the 90s), look at all of its brand-new products 2-3 years out from their introduction.
iPod? Worked only with Macs at the outset, within a few years was by far the best and most popular (and really, the only serious) portable music device on the market. iPhone? Limited apps and slow data speeds on day one, blew everyone away within a few years. iPad? Ridiculed by many day one, now look where it is. It will be the same with Apple Music.