A new beginning?
Apple Music was launched on June 30th this year in over 100 countries worldwide as part of the release of iOS 8.4. It was hyped as being the long awaited "Spotify-killer" that would bring some much needed competition to the music streaming market.
The idea is simple. Apple Music aims to combine it's infamous library of millions of songs with an internet radio service entitled Beats 1, which is curated 24 hours a day by some of the hottest DJs around the world including Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden and Julie Adenuga. All of this content is available for $9.99 per month and is billed straight from your Apple account.
Apple Music vs. Spotify
I've been an avid user of Spotify for a number of years now, so clearly I was interested in what Apple could bring to the table in terms of a music streaming service. More specifically, what could the silicon valley tech giant possibly bring to the market that was innovative here? Apple have unbeliveably done just that. Don't get me wrong, Spotify is an incredible service and works almost perfectly with synced playlists across a variety of platforms and devices but they simply can't compete with the breadth of the iTunes music catalogue.
Aside from having pretty much the entire iTunes library available to stream wherever and whenever you like, Apple Music also includes several levels of curation that have enabled me to discover new tracks and completely new artists - something that the Spotify experience just never invited me to do. The "For you" tab within the app analyses the tracks you stream and recommends new artists that match the genres you listen to most. Moreover, the app curates entire playlists of songs for you to enjoy and store for later. This for me just takes music streaming to another level.
Beats 1
I was initially quite apprehensive and the Beats 1 worldwide internet radio service. I don't normally listen to radio at home or in the car so why would this change my habits? I was also worried about what kind of tracks would be played because the service aims to provide listeners with a variety of music across lots of genres. I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the programming and now find myself listening to Beats 1 both at home on my laptop and also on the go during my morning commute. Again, this is another level of curation that no other service is currently able to even come close to. There's so much scope here for several version of the Beats 1 service that could cover a variety of genres and shows. I never thought I'd be excited for the future of internet radio in 2015.
The Verdict
Apple music really is a powerful new candidate when it comes to music streaming and internet radio. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. The user experience is sometimes confusing especially on the Mac but then this is very much a version 1 for the app across all devices. With a few tweaks across the board this is certainly a compelling option for those looking to stream millions of songs for fixed and competitive monthly fee.
If you're transitioning from Spotify then Apple certainly hasn't made it an easy experience, which is something they definitely need to work on. If you've spent years creating playlists for every eventuality in Spotify then there's currently no easy way to transfer those across to Apple Music. The 3 month free trial is a great taster and I for one will certainly be continuing with my subscription long after the end of September.
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Unfortunately as we approach the end of August, Autumn is now upon us so it's time to add some key pieces to your wardrobe before the inevitable British drizzle and cool evenings arrive.
Here's a few of my favourite pieces from the new Oliver Spencer AW 15 collection, which dropped at the end of last week. I love this heritage brand because they create a variety of capsule collections that enable to mix and match between a few pieces to create lots of different outfits.
Take the Scar Tee, which can be worn either on it's own with a pair of skinny jeans or teamed with an unbuttoned navy shirt like the Clerkenwell Tab. The Doctor's bag is a real investment at almost £400 but again goes with so much of the AW 15 collection.
Links for my favourite pieces are below.
- Cali Crew Jersey - £110
- Clerkenwell Tab Shirt - £99
- Slim Fit Jean Hexton Denim - £159
- Doctor's Bag - £389
- Scar Tee - £69
Are there any other brands that are already launching a must-have AW15 collection?
So I've recently just got back from a long weekend break in Budapest, Hungary. I'll be honest, before booking the trip I knew very little about the city or Hungary in general - except that they always seem to get a good few points more than us in Eurovision, but then again so do most countries... anyway I digress.
Basically we wanted a city break that encompassed three things..
- Cheap flights, hotels and restaurants
- Lots to see and do
- Not a million miles away
I have to say that Budapest surpassed our expectations on all accounts.
Our hotel was the Boscolo Budapest Autograph Collection, located right in the heart of the of the city. It was a five star luxury hotel with an amazing spa, restaurant and bar but was also very reasonably priced. Breakfast wasn't included but we had a great time getting out into the city early each morning and found a couple of fantastic places that served fresh coffee and a great selection of bagels.
A real must is the free 2 hour walking tours, which take place twice a day in the centre of town, and are led by a group of very friendly and helpful locals that aren't employed by the government to drive tourism but simply want to show visitors the city they grow up in. All they ask is a small contribution at the end of the tour.
This is one of the local sweet treats, which are available from lots of street food traders across Budapest. It's called a traditional Chimney Cake and is covered in your choice of cinnamon, vanilla, coconut and various others. All for less than 60p!
You'll visit all the sites by foot instead of on the open top buses, which when you're as lucky with the weather as we were is no bad thing. This gives you so much more time to stop at market stalls, take pictures or just have a wander and explore.
One of the first stops was the famous St Stephens Basilica.
Here's my list of stories from around the web that you should be reading about this week:
- Netflix is having a re-design - Finally! Netflix now has over 60 million subscribers worldwide and is treating its users to a new website within the next few weeks that has been 4 years in the making. Check out the full story from Wired
- A new company called Alphabet now owns Google. The tech-giant's co founder today announced a major reshuffle in the structure of the business, which essentially separates their core project such as YouTube and Chrome from more ambitious products including X Lab. More info from Wired
- Reports suggest that Apple has addressed the "Bendgate" issues experienced by many of its users by constructing a much sturdier outer shell within the yet to be announced iPhone 6S. The shell is also purported to be up to 2g lighter than its predecessor and made from 7000 series aluminium, which is said to be 3 times the strength of the material found on the iPhone 6. The new iPhone along with an updated Apple TV are reportedly going to be announced at an Apple event in early September. Details from TechCrunch
- 'Lol' is dead according to a study conducted by Facebook. The research found that 'haha' is now a far more popular term for laughter claiming over 51% of apparent laughter in the comments and posts that were analysed. The use of emoji has also increased dramatically over the past 12 months and now accounts for more than a third of all laughter across Facebook. More info via TechRadar...lol
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