August 8, 2015 at 6:18 p.m. PST
Apple Music offers a smorgasbord of songs for a low monthly price. The tips in this article will help you get the most out of Apple Music.
The days of buying an album for $10-15 are over. Now, for a $9.99 monthly fee (even less, per person, with the family plan), listeners can enjoy just about any song or album on the planet. With a catalog of over 30 million songs, it’s hard to find something that isn’t on Apple Music.
Unfortunately, Apple’s typically excellent user experience seems to be absent from Apple Music. Many users are finding the user interface to be confusing. Some are losing their iTunes libraries. Even basic tasks may involve unconventional workflows. Settings are scattered all across the iOS user interface.
Apple Music was rushed in order to attract Tidal customers coming off their free trial. We can only hope the service continues to improve. The basics, such as playing music, are quite stable and reliable.
Getting Started with Apple Music
Before you begin using Apple Music, it’s helpful to have an overview of the process. There are some things you need to consider, such as whether to sign up for a family membership or individual plan. For a complete walk-through of the process, please read “Getting Started with Apple Music for the iPhone“. The rest of this article assumes that you have completed the Apple Music setup process. Now let’s take a look at some tips to improve your Apple Music experience.
Get Help with Apple Music
Apple Music has caused a lot of problems and Apple is trying to make it easier to get help. In addition to the Apple Music support website, Apple Music subscribers can ask for help on Twitter. Simply send a message to @AppleMusicHelp on Twitter, and you should get a reply. You can also browse the Twitter feed for tips and tricks. If you need immediate help, Apple’s support website is the best option. You can call a customer support representative right away and find a solution to your problem.
Get More Recommendations
The For You screen is displayed whenever your launch Apple Music. The screen is a colorful mosaic of playlists and albums, based on your musical preferences, iTunes library and listening history. You can actually get more recommendations by scrolling to the top of the screen and “pulling down” as you would with Mail or other apps.
This gesture tells Apple Music that you would like to refresh the For You screen. After pulling down on the For You screen, you will see new recommendations at the top. Keep in mind, the additional suggestions don’t go on forever. After a few refreshes, no new recommendations are offered.
Turn Off Connect on Older Devices
Connect is Apple Music’s social networking feature. I actually think it’s pretty cool. I have seen major artists already using it, but not many fans participating. If you want to shout out to your favorite artist with a comment, it won’t get lost in the shuffle just yet.
I expect the feature to gain traction in the coming months. It’s actually a great way to experience more than just liner notes for an album. In theory, it can more than make up for the lack of liner notes and photos that come with CDs and vinyl. Artists can post demos and songs in development. Connect can be updated after the album’s release, unlike liner notes. Artists can add behind-the-scenes videos, so you can see how the album was made. Tour dates and other events are often posted on Connect. You won’t have to leave Apple Music to experience this media. It is integrated into the app.
Like many Apple customers, I have an older iPad 2 and a newer iPhone 6. My iPad is now four years old, but really hasn’t fared well with the iOS 8 update. In fact, there was a span of weeks where Apple Music was unusable on my iPad. They eventually patched the issue, but it can still be a little slow. You can speed up your Apple Music experience by turning off some of the extraneous features.
You can turn off Connect by tapping Settings > General > Restrictions. If you haven’t enabled Restrictions, you must do so in order to turn off Connect.
You need to create a Restrictions Passcode in order to enable the feature. This prevents your wards from altering restrictions. You will be prompted to enter it twice.
Next, slide the switch to turn off Connect.
In time, Apple Music should improve and you can probably use Connect, even on a slower device.
Turn Off Explicit Music
Apple has garnered much criticism for being controlling of content. They are notorious for rejecting apps based on inappropriate content. When it comes to Music, however, Apple is tolerant of f-bombs and other expletives. You might not want to hear obscenities. Fortunately, you can turn these off.
If you have enabled Restrictions, as noted in the previous section, disabling explicit music is simple. From the Settings > General > Restrictions screen, tap on Music, Podcasts & iTunes U.
Next, turn off the Explicit switch.
You can use the Restrictions screen to fine tune access to your iOS device. It’s great if you are sharing your iPad or iPod touch with the family.
Turn Off Sound Check
Sound Check is the Apple Ecosystem’s method of controlling audio volume. Unfortunately, it can have the opposite effect. I was listening to an album I have enjoyed for several years. When listening on Apple Music with Sound Check activated, a song that is supposed to be quiet was actually very loud. This may be what Sound Check is supposed to do, but it seems unlikely. This quiet song seemed louder than the heavier, more rockin’ tunes. I had to run over from the kitchen to turn the stereo down. It was that loud.
I recommend turning off Sound Check for Apple Music. It should be off by default. You can turn off Sound Check by tapping Settings > Music and turning off the switch.
You may also want to turn off Sound Check on your Apple TV (Settings > Audio & Video > Sound Check). I didn’t notice a difference when playing Apple Music over AirPlay from my iPhone. Turning Sound Check off on my iOS device seemed to do the trick. Apple Music will be coming to Apple TV soon, so it’s a good idea to turn off Sound Check ahead of the launch, so you don’t forget. This will also prevent the feature from affecting iTunes and iTunes Radio audio levels when played directly on Apple TV.
Adjust Apple Music EQ
An equalizer, or EQ, is an audio tool that enables frequency adjustments. If you want more bass, you can adjust the EQ appropriately. I recommend only doing this if your audio system doesn’t have an equalizer. The Apple Music EQ only offers presets. Much like seasoning a dish, EQ should be adjusted to taste. This is best done while listening.
A preset makes assumptions about the music and audio system. Albums are always recorded and mastered by different engineers and they don’t all sound alike. There really is no such thing as a “jazz” EQ. Nonetheless, if you are listening with headphones or a simple audio system, it’s the best option.
You can turn on the EQ by tapping Settings > Music > EQ. From here, try to find a preset that enhances the music.
You might want to turn it off when you’re done listening, especially if you listen to many different types of music. What works for Metallica might not be ideal for Miles Davis.
The Late Night EQ preset allows listeners to enjoy music without disturbing others. It reigns in the dynamic range so that music is more audible at lower levels.
Save Your Ears with Volume Limit
The Volume Limit feature sets a maximum audio level that can’t be overridden by any of the volume controls. This feature only works with the headphone jack. Setting the Volume Limit is easy. First, make sure no music is playing. Plug your headphones or external speakers into the headphone jack. Next, turn up the volume all the way on your device, either using Control Center or the volume button on the side of your device.
Next, go to Settings > Music > Volume Limit and turn the slider all the way down.
Launch the Music app and start playing some music. Go back to the Volume Limit setting and slowly turn the slider up until it is at the desired maximum level. (continue…)
Keep in mind that not all music is at the same volume. It depends on how it was recorded and mastered. Also, volume is more about peaks than overall loudness. Some albums sound louder than others, due to the way they are mastered. Some mastering engineers like to boost the overall loudness of an album by using a lot of program compression. Don’t be surprised if, even with Volume Limit enabled, some music is louder than you expect. Sound Check is supposed to prevent this, but I have experienced the opposite and don’t recommend using it.
Change Album Sort Order
Certain aspects of the Apple Music user experience are puzzling. There are some good reasons for an app to have centralized settings (as opposed to settings within the app). For example, if you want to fine-tune Notifications, it is much easier to do so when all of the switches are in one place. Unfortunately, with Apple Music, they decided to put some app-specific settings in the Settings app.
If you want to do something as basic as changing the sort order of albums, you will need to do this in Settings. Tap on Settings > Music > Sort Album.
From here, you can sort albums by artist or title.
Hide Apple Music
Music offers two services in one app — Apple Music and Music, the latter being your iTunes collection. If you only want to see your iTunes music, tap on Settings > Music and turn off Show Apple Music.
When you open the Music app, you will see a much simpler interface. You can browse My Music, Playlists or listen to Radio. This is also what you will experience if you decide to cancel Apple Music. You can still listen to Radio for free, and this includes the Beats 1 radio station.
Only Show Music Stored on Your iPhone
The My Music collection shows music downloaded to your device as well as albums that you have added to My Music, but are stored on Apple’s servers. If you are on a plane (that doesn’t offer WiFi) or without an Internet connection, you may only wish to see music that is stored on the device. This can be accomplished by tapping My Music. There is a media selector at the top of this screen. It defaults to show Artists, but it may display Albums, Songs, Genres or Composers.
Tap this selector and then turn on the Music Available Offline switch.
You will now only see music stored on your device, which can be played without an Internet connection. Don’t worry — your favorite artists will still get compensated for every song you enjoy. Apple Music keeps track of what you are listening to, privately, so artists can be paid.
Conserve Data by Downloading Apple Music
Apple Music can stream songs over a cellular connection. This may come in handy when you are not near a WiFi hot spot. Most people don’t have unlimited cellular data plans. If you are one of the multitudes, you can conserve cellular data by downloading your favorite music. You can download an album or song by tapping the “…” next to the item and choosing Make Available Offline. This will download the music and add it to your My Music collection.
Playing downloaded songs in My Music won’t use as much cellular data. Keep in mind, the Apple Music app will still use some cellular data, unless you turn this off in two places. First, tap on Settings > Cellular and turn off Apple Music.
Next, tap on Settings > iTunes & App Store, and then turn off cellular data.
If you play Apple Music on your Apple TV using AirPlay, you should turn off the “Play from iTunes in the Cloud” feature on your Apple TV. This feature will steam music from iTunes in the Cloud instead of your downloaded music, even if you are playing a downloaded song on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
If you wish to conserve data, turn it off. It is on by default. Go to Settings > AirPlay > Play from iTunes in the Cloud to turn this feature off.
Remove Downloaded Songs from Apple Music
Apple Music is a mashup of the previous Music app and the new subscription service. This means your iTunes purchases are presented along side Apple Music songs added to My Music. Unfortunately, this creates some UI confusion. There’s no easy way to delineate iTunes and Apple Music albums and songs.
Removing specific albums from My Music is the same process, whether it is an iTunes album you own, or an Apple Music album you are “renting”. Simply tap the “…” and select Remove Downloads from the menu.
This will delete the underlying music files stored locally, however, the album or song will remain on My Music. You can remove the album or song by tapping “…” and selecting Remove from My Music.
Deleting all of your downloaded music can be accomplished from one central location. This will delete both iTunes purchases and Apple Music albums. If you go to Settings > General > Usage > Manage Storage > Music, you will see all of the music stored on your device. You can delete all of these by tapping the Edit button on the top right.
Next, tap on the red circle.
Tap on the Delete button to remove all music from your device.
There’s a neat trick to remove all downloaded Apple Music tracks from your device, while leaving iTunes purchases on your device. Simply go to Settings > Music and turn off iCloud Music Library. Next, tap Turn Off when prompted.
This will remove all Apple Music downloads from your device. You may want to turn iCloud Music Library back on so you can download more music. This is a convenient way to quickly free up space on your device, enabling you to download different albums and songs.
Play Apple Music on Your Stereo
Apple Music is even better when you blast it from your stereo. Maybe you prefer to listen to something quiet and relaxing in the background. Playing Apple Music from your stereo is easy, especially if you have an Apple TV or AirPlay compatible audio system.
First, make sure your stereo equipment, Apple TV or AirPlay compatible device is on and the volume is reduced. After all, you don’t want to be shocked by excessively loud music that could blow out your speakers. Next, slide your finger up from the bottom of your iPhone’s screen to reveal Control Center. Make sure you are connected to WiFi and then tap the AirPlay button.
Select your AirPlay device and tap Done.
Now, launch Apple Music, play some music and enjoy!
For more information on how to connect an Apple TV to your stereo, please read “How To Connect Apple TV to a Stereo“. Apple TV offers a few ways to connect to a stereo, including an optical audio output.
You can also beam Apple Music to a Bluetooth speaker. Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer to pair your Bluetooth device with your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
There is a “poor man’s” solution to playing Apple Music on bigger speakers. Simply purchase an inexpensive male 1/8″ to male RCA cable.
Plug one end into the headphone jack of your iOS device and the other end into the line input (aux) of your stereo. Be careful about the levels. Make sure to turn down the volume on your iOS device and stereo until you figure out the right levels. Headphone outputs are amplified and line inputs expect line-level (un-amplified) audio. Slowly increase the volume on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch until you can hear the music, but it doesn’t sound distorted.
If you only have a radio, you can purchase an inexpensive FM wireless transmitter from several stores. I have seen FM transmitters at drug stores for less than $10. Amazon has many of these for even less. Just plug the transmitter into your iOS device’s headphone jack and tune your radio to the correct station. This is great if you only have a radio or an older car stereo. Keep in mind, the sound quality isn’t as good as AirPlay, Bluetooth or a direct cable connection. It can only sound as good as FM radio, which lacks some of the higher frequencies.
View Album Art on Apple TV
If you beam Apple Music to your Apple TV via AirPlay, you may wonder what happened to the album art. In some cases, depending on where you are in Apple TV, you won’t see it. The default screen saver will kick in, instead of the Now Playing view.
You can navigate to the Now Playing view by moving the cursor on to Music in the top row of icons. Next, move the cursor to the Now Playing icon in the top marquee and press the center select button.
The album cover will appear, along with a bar showing the length of the song and current playback progress.
The album cover will flip every few seconds, ensuring that your screen won’t be damaged.
Cancel Apple Music Subscription
The free three month Apple Music subscription is enticing many people to sign up. Some may choose to cancel the subscription after the trial period. You may wish to cancel it if you just aren’t using it much. Keep in mind, when you cancel Apple Music, you will lose all of your downloaded songs, with the exception of iTunes purchases. With Apple Music, all music downloads are only available while you subscribe. They are DRM protected to ensure you won’t copy them. This also ensures that artists are paid when you listen. You can only listen to Apple Music in the Music app and iTunes. Apple Music for Apple TV will be coming this fall.
Canceling Apple Music is easy. Simply turn off iTunes subscription renewals. Please read “How to Turn Off iTunes Auto-Renewal Subscriptions” for more information. If you have the three month free trial, you can turn off renewals now to ensure you won’t forget.
Pay for Apple Music with Discounted iTunes Gift Cards
At $9.99 per month, Apple Music is destined to save most music fans a lot of money. The $14.99 family plan allows up to 6 family members to use Apple Music independently. You can save even more money by paying for Apple Music with iTunes gift cards. Many stores sell iTunes gift cards at up to 20% discounts. Costco regularly offers discounted iTunes gift cards. Sometimes they even have a sale. You can save up to 13% if you have an Executive membership and use a rewards card. I use iTunes gift cards to pay for Apple Music, HBO Now and other iTunes purchases. For more information, please read “Buy iTunes Gift Cards at a Discount“.
Reset Music Selection Bubbles
Remember those neat bubbles that you tapped when you first started Apple Music? If you find the For You suggestions to be unappealing, you may want to reset these. Simply tap on the user icon on the top left any top-level Apple Music screen.
Next, tap on Choose Artists For You.
You will see the bubble screen.
From here, you can either add to your preferences or reset them by tapping Reset at the bottom.
Fine Tune Recommendations
Apple Music learns what you like when you use the service. You can also get more control over recommendations by indicating your preferences. When you like a song or album, make sure to tap the heart icon.
You can even do this from the lock screen.
It is also possible to indicate what you don’t like on the For You screen. Simply hold your finger down on an album you don’t like. A menu will appear. Select “I Don’t Like This Suggestion”.
This only seems to work on albums presented on the For You screen, and not playlists.
Make Playlists Available Offline
Albums and songs aren’t the only downloadable music formats. Apple Music allows subscribers to download whole playlists. This works for playlists you create, as well as curated playlists. It’s a great way to download individual songs without having to initiate the download on each song. Simply tap on “…” at the top of the playlist and choose Make Available Offline.
All of the playlist’s songs will be downloaded and appear in both My Music and Playlists. Downloading playlists has a consequence. You will start to see partial albums in My Music, because most playlists only feature one song from an album.
You can download the full album or leave it alone if you just want the songs on the playlist.
Download Beats 1 Playlists
Fans of Beats 1 can rest assured that tuning in on time is not necessary. Every song played on Beats 1 can be enjoyed later. You can even download the songs and listen offline.
First, tap on the Radio button at the bottom of the screen. Tap on the Beats 1 icon, but not the Listen Now button.
A screen with Beats 1 programming information will appear, along with a grid of program icons.
Tap on one of the program icons to view past playlists.
You will see a collection of playlists.
These work just like any other Apple Music playlist. Tapping on a playlist will display all of the tracks. Tap on the top-level “…” button and choose Make Available Offline to download a playlist.
The playlist will appear under Playlists and the individual songs will be added to My Music.
Add Custom Image to Playlist
Customization is important for some users, and Apple has taken note, adding more flexibility to iOS 8. Apple Music has added some basic customization features, including the ability to add a photo to a playlist.
First, tap on the My Music button at the bottom of the screen and then select Playlists from the top. Select the playlist you wish to edit.
Tap the Edit button at the top of the playlist.
The graphic on the right will display a small camera icon. Tap on the camera icon and then select Choose Photo from the pop up menu. You can even take a photo using the camera.
Unfortunately, you can’t add alternate cover art to an Apple Music album. There is a workaround. Simply make a playlist for the album and add the alternate cover to it. It isn’t quite the same as replacing the album art. Albums and playlists are different. We can only hope that Apple adds this feature later. You can do this with albums in your iTunes library, on a Mac or Windows computer.
View Recently Played Music
Apple Music offers so many songs, it is almost hard to keep track. If you listen to new music while otherwise occupied, you might want to look at a history of what was played. Fortunately, this is an easy task. Simply tap on the list button in the Now Playing screen.
Scroll up on the list to view previously played tracks.
You can re-play any of these songs by tapping them.
View Search History
Exploring a vast collection of music can be a daunting task. It is easy to forget what you have searched for. Fortunately, Apple Music makes it easy to recall your search history. Simply tap the clock icon on the right of the search field.
A panel with your search history will be displayed.
You can tap on an item to display the search results. Tap on Clear and confirm to delete recent searches.
View Album Details from “…” Menu
If you’ve used Apple Music for some time, you’ve probably noticed that the “…” menu is everywhere. This actually provides a handy shortcut to an album’s detail screen. Simply tap the “…” menu and then tap on the track information at the top of the menu.
You will see the album’s detail screen. It’s a convenient way to get to an album from a playlist.
Like it or not, the “…” menu has no “show album” option. Tapping on the currently playing song shows the album. It’s not the best usability. One would expect that tapping on a song would provide details about the song, since this “master/detail” design is ubiquitous in computing.
Use Apple Music for Alarm Sound
If you’re not a morning person, you might not want to wake up to the clinical sound of an alarm. The iOS Clock app offers many different alarm tones, but it also allows one to play songs from Apple Music. First, open the Clock app and tap on the Alarm button on the bottom of the screen. Next, tap the + button on the top right.
Set the alarm and tap Sound.
You should see a few recently played songs in the list. If these aren’t to your liking, tap on “Pick a song” and browse or search for a specific song.
The Select Music menu allows for browsing and searching Apple Music and other music on your device. When you have found the right song, tap the + button to add it to the alarm.
Keep in mind, only songs that are available online (downloaded) can be use as an alarm. This makes sense, as any reliable alarm can’t depend on an Internet connection.
If you like to meditate in the morning, you can set up a guided meditation audio track as your alarm.
There are also guided exercise and yoga programs for those who want to get a jump on the day.
When you explore Apple Music, you will find it has a lot to offer beyond music.
Use Siri with Apple Music
Siri is the digital personal assistant featured on newer iPhones and iPads. You can launch Siri by holding down the home button or holding down the center button on your headphones. You can even launch Siri simply by saying “Hey Siri”. You can turn this feature on by going to Settings > General > Siri and turning the Hey Siri switch on. This feature only works when your iPhone or iPad is plugged in to the charger.
Siri is very useful for getting information, making appointments, and offering suggestions. It is also fully integrated with Apple Music, if you have enabled the iCloud Music Library. You can ask Siri to play any song, album or artist. Additionally, the personal assistant can handle more impressive requests, like “play the top hits from 1991”.
You can also manage Apple Music using Siri. Adding a song to My Music can be accomplished by telling Siri “add this to My Music”. You can tell Siri to “play more like this” indicating a preference for the song.
Here’s a list of useful Siri commands:
- find out what song is playing: “what song is this?”
- find out which album a song is from: “what album is this from?”
- play an Apple Music playlist: “play [name of playlist]”
- use Shazam to identify background music: “what song is this?”
- play an album or song next: “add [song or album] to my playlist” or “play [song or album] next”
- play top 10 songs from a month or year: “play the top 10 songs from January 1970”
- play hit music from a specific date: “play the number one song from January 1, 1970”
- play artist’s music based on date or order: “Play the first [artist] album”
- play new releases: “play new music”
- play more music like this: “play more like this”
- play the next song: “skip”
- play the previous song: “play previous”
- play a cover song: “play [song] by [artist]”
- play Beats 1 radio (or any radio station): “play Beats 1″
- rate a song: “rate this song 4 stars” (ratings are on a scale of 1-5 stars)
- like a song: “I like this song”
- dislike a song: “I don’t like this song”
- shuffle music: “shuffle”
- shuffle specific artist or album: “shuffle [artist or album]”
- add music to library: “add [artist, song or album] to My Music” (continue…)
Request a Song on Beats 1 Radio
Beats 1 Radio is a real broadcast hosted by humans. In addition to picking music without algorithms, the hosts can also take requests. It is unclear whether the requests will be played at any time, or just during a specific request program. Travis Mills hosts a show at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST) which will play requested music.
I find it hard to believe they will take any requests. For example, if someone asks for Glenn Miller, Beats 1 is probably too cool for that. I’m sure if you request the type of pop music that Beats 1 plays, it will be honored.
Here are the numbers for the Beats 1 Request line:
- US AND WORLD: +1 (310) 299-8756
- US TOLL FREE: +1 (877) 720-6293
- CANADA TOLL FREE: +1 855-648-0703
- UK TOLL FREE: +44 800 802 1238
- FRANCE: +33 9 75 18 21 60
- JAPAN: +81 3-4589-5123
- GERMANY: +49 1573 5982361
- BRAZIL: +55 11 4950-1098
- MEXICO: +52 81 4170 3626
- DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: +1 829-956-5158
- AUSTRALIA: +61 2 8294 5836
- ITALY: +39 02 9475 1288
- IRELAND: +353 76 680 5749
- NEW ZEALAND: +64 9-887 8360
You can also send a request via iMessage to beats1radio@icloud.com. Unfortunately, there’s no app for requests and they haven’t added it to Apple Music.
Transfer Spotify, Rdio and Google Music Tracks and Playlists into Apple Music
Apple Music wasn’t the first music subscription service. Rhapsody was the first major one, however, it never gained much traction. Spotify is still the most popular music service. A lot of Apple Music subscribers used Spotify or another service in the past. Wouldn’t it be great if you could move your library over to Apple Music?
The good news is that moving to Apple Music doesn’t mean you have to start all over. For the most part, the major music subscription services all offer the same music — roughly 30 million songs. STAMP is a free Mac OS X and Windows app that can transfer songs, playlists and other data from one music service to another.
The app is fairly simple to use. After installing the app, one can log in to Spotify, Rdio or Google Music within the app and select music and playlists to transfer. STAMP will then move your music and playlists to Apple Music. This will transfer the data to Apple Music in iTunes, however, since Apple Music is cloud-based, the imported music will also be available to any device with the iCloud Music Library enabled.
Be aware that some users have had their iTunes music libraries ruined by Apple Music. Make sure to backup your iTunes library before you activate Apple Music and the iCloud Music Library.
The free version can transfer 10 songs per session. The premium version has no limits. For more information, check out the STAMP website.
View Apple Music Lyrics
Modern recording techniques have come a long way since the late 1800s. With the right audio system, you can experience the full range of frequencies and enjoy a wide dynamic range. Unfortunately, it is still sometimes hard to comprehend lyrics. This may be more difficult with certain styles of music. For example, death metal usually has completely indiscernible vocals.
There are some workarounds. Using your web browser, you can visit one of the many sites that offer song lyrics.
Sometimes a band’s website will offer lyrics. In theory, Connect should present lyrics along with everything else that used to be in CD liner notes. However, the Apple Music social networking feature is very new and not widely adopted. It is up to the individual artist to use Connect for these purposes.
If you enjoy Apple Music on an iOS device, the Musixmatch Lyrics Finder provides convenient integration with Apple Music.
Simply install the app, play a song on Apple Music, and you can see the lyrics in Musixmatch Lyrics Finder.
It even has a widget for convenient access to lyrics.
The app can also provide lyrics for music playing in the background, much like how Shazam can identify a song.