For almost two years, the Autoplay feature on Apple Music has caused great frustration for many users. Compared to services like Spotify and YouTube Music, Apple Music’s Autoplay recommendations are simply not up to par. For example, after playing “Nothing Is Lost” by The Weeknd from the Avatar 2 soundtrack, the recommended songs were not in the user’s genre of preference. Despite liking and disliking songs, cleaning up their library, and adding songs to their library, the user still received the same rigid results.
On the other hand, YouTube Music and Spotify provided personalized recommendations based on the user’s listening history and genre preferences. YouTube Music even recognized that “Nothing Is Lost” was part of a movie soundtrack and recommended other movie soundtrack songs that the user had liked in the past. Additionally, YouTube Music allows users to tune the algorithm generating recommendations based on familiarity, discovering something new, or a particular genre, or a mix of both.
The user has continued to use Apple Music as their main streaming service due to sound quality and device support. Apple Music is the only streaming app on the Mac that allows users to AirPlay to a group of AirPlay speakers in their room. Furthermore, Apple Music’s non-lossless tracks sound better than those from Spotify and YouTube Music. Apple Music has even come out with lossless and Dolby Atmos support, putting the other two services further behind.
However, Apple Music needs to improve its personalized playlists and Autoplay algorithm. Spotify and YouTube Music need to support Dolby Atmos and lossless audio quality at no additional subscription cost. Until these improvements are made, the user plans to stick with Apple Music.
In conclusion, while Apple Music’s sound quality and device support are superior to Spotify and YouTube Music, its Autoplay recommendations leave much to be desired. Personalized recommendations based on listening history and genre preferences are crucial for a music streaming service, and Apple Music needs to catch up in this area.