For the last few years, December has been the worst month for Apple Music users. You have had other bad things happen to you in other months but we must agree that December blows.
December is the month when the cultural phenomenon that isSpotify Wrapped starts to take over the internet. Some people even post it on Facebook. It's like being denied a seat at the cool kids' cafeteria table for users of Apple Music We are surrounded by something. We can't escape the music streaming service. We cannot take part. We have to watch.
This year was the last one. Apple Music has a new competitor called replay. Replay has been around since the beginning of the year. You get the basics, like top songs, top artists, and top albums, even if you don't get much in the way of statistics. I was overjoyed when I heard about this. I reached the top. It was a month that made me want to cry.
There is an issue. It's difficult to share Apple Music replay. For that reason, it doesn't understand what makes it such a phenomenon.
There is no synopsis. You know how useful the card is for summing up your top tracks, top songs, top genres, and time spent listening? Apple does not have that on its music service. If you want to share as much information as possible, you will need to dig through your replay and get individual pictures of each section. Apple doesn't have a genre category.
Apple Music Replay is presented in the least screenshot friendly format possible. Your top artists and top songs are listed first in slideshows of five and then in a long list of 10. There are 10 that don't fit on a page. The picture shows that you are only getting part of the list.
There is a way to get a slightly neater screenshot (it is not nearly as visually appealing or well laid out as Spotify's presentation, but it does exist) of just your top five artists and top five songs. You can find it by going to the Top Artists or Top Songs slideshow and clicking through the entire one. When I asked every Apple Music user if they wanted to click through the slideshow on their own, they all said they didn't want to.
These are small gripes to make in the grand scheme of things. I think what they're saying is that Apple Music is not suited for the use case of social media sharing, that's what they're talking about.
Our lives are enriched by music. I hear it in my ears a lot. I frame everything from my commute to my toothbrush routine. I don't know what most of the people in my life listen to on a daily basis. I am pretty sure most of them don't know what I listen to. It isn't just a list. A certain picture of a user is painted of their moods and tics.
It isn't about music at all. Connection is what it is about. Sharing fundamental parts of our lives and ourselves is how it is. It is a way to get to know the people we love in a different way.
There is a chance that Apple will try to copy the service here. A useful product is wrapped. Many audio brands have taken a whack at it because of that. Every year that I have to sit through it, I am slightly more tempted to switch to the streaming service. I think Apple will save users if it can create a cultural product that is as good as or better than the others. The product needs to be simpler to share. It is a reality even though it may be an unfortunate one.
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