By Katherine Mobilia
Music apps are a new way to listen to your favorite songs and artists on the go without paying iTunes’ increasingly high prices. But, with so many of these music apps on the market, how does one decide what to purchase? The new Beats Music app just may simplify that decision.
Beats Music, created by Dr. Dre as a part of his wildly popular franchise, Beats by Dre, brings a fresh face to music apps. When I heard about yet another music-streaming app out on the market, it is safe to say I was underwhelmed. However, once I downloaded the app, I was surprised. The process was refreshingly easy, especially in comparison to other apps such as Pandora, and it was enjoyable to pick the kinds of music I prefer. Little colorful bubbles filled my iPhone screen with genres and the names of artists, just waiting for me to click them to indicate that I wanted to hear what they had to offer. This introduction stage of the app is incomparably better than many of the other music apps out there, such as Spotify, because of its visual appeal, convenience and genuinely enjoyable selection process.
Once the introduction and sign-up are complete, the real fun begins. Beats Music suggests artists and albums that you may be interested in, and the suggestions I received were impressively accurate. You have the option to follow some of your favorite artists and receive alerts when they release new music as well as follow your friends who also have Beats Music accounts. This feature, along with the ability to create both public and private playlists are commonplace in music apps, specifically Spotify. Additionally, Beats Music provides its users with a library in which he or she can conveniently add whatever songs or albums he or she desires, which is very similar to iMusic, except it lacks the expensive price. Another intriguing feature Beats Music offers is “Highlights,” through users can listen to songs, artists and albums specifically chosen by various experts in the music industry. This section of the app connects with another efficient tool, “Curators,” where a variety of big names in the entertainment industry, such as Rolling Stone and AMP Radio, create playlists that provide the user with new, unknown artists and music, as well as some of everyone’s favorite billboard hits.
One of the features that Beats Music boasts that I find most impressive is exclusive to this up-and-coming app. “The Sentence” is a fun, interactive tool that allows you to complete a sentence that states where you are, who you are with, what you are doing and what genre you feel like listening to. Once you have completed the sentence, a playlist of songs will pop up that fit perfectly with the various choices you made. A simplified version of this feature can be found in “activities,” which lists a countless variety of activities, from “partying” to “dreaming,” that the user can select to get a playlist. This savvy feature eliminates any of those irritating moments when you just cannot decide what you want to listen to.
While the value of this app may be priceless, it comes with e a price. Right before Apple finalized its contract with this app, Beats Music lowered its price from $119.88 a year to $99 a year and extended its free trial to 14 days. This prices Beats Music at around $8.33 a month, with no advertisements and no interruptions. In comparison, Pandora costs $4.99 a month and offers a free version, unlike Beats Music. While the cost of Pandora is significantly less, the paid version still contains “time outs” and a limited amount of skips, inconveniences that Beats Music lacks. Spotify costs a little less than Beats Music at $4.99 a month for college students, provides a free trial with advertisements and is very similar to the new app, but lacks the convenience.
After taking many factors into consideration, Beats Music emerges as one of the most impressive, compelling music apps to hit the market and I am very curious to see how it grows.