Neil Hughes
Apple's struggles with social networking continue, as its mostly-ignored artist Connect feature is said to be set for a "demotion" in the upcoming revamp of Apple Music in iOS 10.
With the next-generation iOS 10 update, Apple Music Connect will no longer be featured among the parent menus at the bottom of the Music app, according to 9to5Mac. Instead, Connect could become more difficult to find within the "For You" recommendations tab.
In addition to being hidden further within the Music app, the report suggested that there will be no new features added to Apple Music Connect.
The apparent slow demise of Connect mirrors Apple's previous attempt at a music-related social networking service, Ping, which it introduced with iTunes 10 back in 2010. Ping lasted just two years before Apple killed the project, ending its efforts to promote music discovery through a proprietary medium.
Unlike Ping, which allowed individual users to share music with friends, Connect focuses on artists, intending to allow them to keep in touch with fans by sharing updates and tracks. Users can automatically follow artists on Connect when they add songs to their music library.
Apple Music Connect launched as part of iOS 8.4 last summer, earning a spot as a parent menu alongside My Music, Playlists and Radio. Since its launch, Apple has offered users a roundabout way to remove Connect from the Music app, if they so choose.
Apple is apparently working on a major overhaul for the Apple Music streaming subscription service, expected to be unveiled at this June's Worldwide Developers Conference. It's said that Apple is looking to update its Music app for iOS with a more intuitive user interface, responding to complaints from users who have been confused by the integration of Apple Music into traditional music libraries from iTunes.
Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off ">on June 13. In addition to a revamp for Apple Music, the next-generation versions of iOS, OS X, tvOS and watchOS are also expected to be announced.
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34 Comments
Yea, connect is a good idea but it didn't go far enough. I can see what the artists are up to if they post, but that's it. I can do that on Google. What Connect needs is a way to interact with other fans. It makes little difference to just post stuff that is ignored by everyone. It would be need to get discussions going because no artists is going to hop on Connect to do an impromptu AMA.
Buy Twitter already - Twitter along cant monetize very well. It can fit in Apple's larger ecosystem, and can form the basis for future development to combat Facebook in the future. You could do some interesting things with integration like that...including selecting your favorite twitter users and integrating conversations as Messages...comments from Apple Music, either manual, or automatic...not that I give a shit, but I think many young'uns might find it cool...
What they need to do is to have Connect aggregate from other social media sites, make it a one stop source for tweets, instagrams, etc. They could then add some "premium" features unique to connect. This would lower the barrier for artists to not to have to support "yet another social media channel", be more convenient for users to track the goings on of their favorite stars, and still make it possible for someone to do something creative with connect. Sometimes I think that the folks running Music/iTunes are so afraid of messing up their cash cow that they are myopic about coming up with unique value added (almost like Browett taking over retail and becoming so laser focused on efficiency he forgot about the experience).
Though I'm sure Apple had bigger plans for this, I don't really see the utility of this. There's plenty of opportunity for discovery through the For You, New and Radio options. I understand Spotify has some ability for users to share playlists. Why can't Apple just build this functionality in?
Either revamp the hell out of it or remove it. What's the point in burying it deeper and making AppleMusic even more complicated and Connect even less appealing for artists?
I don't think Apple wants to step on Facebook's toes. They were on good terms last I heard.