Apple Music has been available for a bit of time now, since June 29, which means with only one more month to go, we’re quickly closing on the final stretch of the three-month trial period.
Ever since my first impressions of Apple Music, I haven’t really given the service a shot. Simply put, that’s because there hasn’t been much of a reason for me to try it again. Sure, the release of iOS 8.4.1 saw some Apple Music improvements, and that’s one reason why I tried it again, but nothing I had noticed back then was fixed. And, let’s face it, the way that Apple incorporates its individual apps with the main operating system means that those major fixes are a ways away.
Like, iOS 9 away.
It’s pretty funny to me that, with Apple Music’s initial three-month trial period set to conclude for most trial users on September 29, iOS 9 will probably have already launched. With some rumors suggesting the new iPhones, and along with them iOS 9, are set to launch on September 18 (and there’s no real reason to doubt those rumors at this point), that means that Apple Music will have about a week and a half where the majority of those big fixes will be implemented.
Which means, as far as I’m concerned, users will have about a week and a half of a trial period with a truly functioning piece of software. And that’s if Apple Music is truly functioning by then. I’d like to hope that Apple Music is out of its unofficial beta stage by the time iOS 9 is released to the public, but that might be a pipe dream at this point.
But I’m going to assume that Apple Music will be fixed by September 18 as I write this out. Because I can say that I’m a bit annoyed at the way that Apple has handled the launch of Apple Music. I know that some of you out there probably haven’t had an issue with Music up until this point, and the experience will probably be even better when iOS 9 launches. But for the rest of us, Apple Music has been an unusable mess, and a stark, lacking experience compared to other streaming music services — like Spotify.
But Apple gave us three months to try out Apple Music, but I can’t help but think, nay,hope, that Apple didn’t provide three months of a trial period because they knew that Music was broken. But that’s been my thoughts for awhile now. I can’t help but think that Apple knew Music wasn’t up to par, and that customers would probably be unable to justify paying for a product that is as broken as Music is — even if it’s an Apple product. (Of course, we all know this isn’t true. Apple fans will pay for any Apple thing, no matter what.) So, give them three months of free service as they work on fixing it behind the scenes, and then give them a week and a half of a product’s truly good service for free.
That’s still a deal, right?
Apple is paying artists out of pocket for the three-month trial period, thanks in part to Taylor Swift, and I doubt that Apple would be willing to do that again. But I do believe that Apple should extend the free trial period to actually cover some realistic stretch of time where Apple Music is usable for everyone. If someone is happy with Apple Music in that extended trial period, they can opt out and pay for it.
Then again, maybe a week and a half of Music working the way it should, without any screw-ups, is long enough to convince someone that’s in the waning hours of their free trial to pay up when the time comes. I’d probably be in that boat, maybe. Ultimately, until Apple Music’s library matches (or surpasses) Spotify’s, Apple Music still isn’t really an option for me, anyway.
Where do you stand on Apple Music’s free trial? Do you think it was a way for Apple to publicly beta test Music without even trying to get customers to pay for it?
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