Apple Music: So far, so good

Apple CEO Tim Cook waves as he arrives on stage to deliver his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, United States June 8, 2015.

Image: Apple CEO Tim Cook waves as he arrives on stage to deliver his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, United States June 8, 2015. Photograph: Robert Galbraith/Reuters

Apple Music, launched sometime last month, was the Cupertino-based tech giant’s belated entry into the streaming space. Let’s check it out:

Apple Music is a subscription-based app, but is currently offering a free three-month trial.

After the third month, one will be charged Rs 120 a month for individual accounts and Rs 190 for a family sharing account, which allows up to six people to use the service.

After confirming our account, one had to set up the genres of music one liked and one’s favourite artists.

Once this was done, the 'For You' tab started displaying curated playlists based on one’s selection.

As I had selected Rock and Bruce Springsteen as my favourites, besides him, I was also pointed towards Billy Joel and The Cars.

I also listen to Pop sometimes and was thus directed towards Taylor Swift and Elvis Presley, whose songs I already have in my iTunes library.

Apple CEO Tim Cook poses with scholarship winners following his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California June 8, 2015. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

Image: Tim Cook poses with scholarship winners following his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California June 8, 2015. Photograph: Robert Galbraith/Reuters

I clicked on the playlist titled 'Born to Run: Songs about Leaving' and they sounded quite nice on my PC speakers.

Next I clicked on a playlist titled 'Intro to Jascha Heifetz'.

Well, Violin Concerto in D sounded okay on my PC speakers, but the moment I plugged in a pair of B&O H6 headphones, I was shattered.

The sound didn’t do justice to the tonal variations of Heifetz’s violin, so apparent on the CD or in Apple lossless recordings.

The culprit: Apple streams at a lower bit rate.

Next up was Beats 1 radio, which introduced me to some new stuff which I normally don’t listen to. Curated playlists, such as by Rolling Stone and Shazam, and playlists by activity are cool additions.

A pedestrian walks past a Beats brand display in the subway system of New York. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Image: A pedestrian walks past a Beats brand display in the subway system of New York. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Predictions, too, were spot on.

The 'Connect' tab connected me with social streams of musicians.

Using the app on my iPod, I streamed music already in my library, with cloud-sharing turned on.

A caveat: One can’t stream to multiple devices at the same time with an individual plan.

My experience with Apple Music has been so far so good, but I wouldn’t be streaming classical music.

I might pick it over buying albums for casual listening. I suggest you do it too.