Arts Vanity: In Defense of Apple Music

I am a proud Apple Music user. I have used it since 2017, when I was first offered a free trial for the purchase of my iPhone 6 in the 6th grade. That year, my top songs on my Apple Music Replay were “Little Do You Know” by Jules LeBlanc & Hayden Summeral (a byproduct of my Bratayley YouTube addiction), Kristin Chenowith’s “Popular” (some things never change), and The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)” (no comment needed). Apple Music has been with me through everything — crushes, graduations, breakups, moves — and my experiences are neatly catalogued in playlists marked by the month and year, as well as special playlists for road trips, concert setlists, and songs I like to sing when I’m home alone.

In a moment of weakness over Thanksgiving break, I decided to give Spotify Premium a try. I long had a Spotify account to add to shared playlists and stalk my friends (and my enemies), but had never used it as my primary streaming platform.

I committed to the transition. For this month, I have exclusively used Spotify. I individually transferred all 157 of my Apple Music playlists to Spotify on a questionable website. And — now that I have actually tried both services — I stand by my allegiance to Apple Music. After this experience, I offer readers my takeaways.

First off, although daylists can be fun, they often force a mood. Although I consider myself a happy person, I am a huge fan of sad-girl pop. Yet, my daylists with titles like “bitter breakup evening” call me out annoyingly incorrectly. I just want to listen to Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus in peace. Last Friday night, I was in Lamont Library working on my final essay for French when my daylist teased me with “ibiza house friday evening,” an unwelcome taunt which made me even more bitter about being in the library on a weekend night.

Secondly, I make a plea for Apple Music Replay. Although it might not describe your listening experience in pithy phrases like “Pink Pilates Princess Vogue Pop,” it gives a thorough ranking of your top 100 songs (including the number of plays for each), top 10 artists and albums, and top five playlists and genres — and it is available throughout to the year to see how your list evolves. While Spotify Wrapped got hated on this year by its own users for its supposed inaccuracy and uninspired recap, Apple Music stayed strong and steady.

Overall, Apple Music — with few AI-generated playlists and a simpler interface — encourages listeners to manually choose their music, inspiring people to curate their selections in a meaningful way. One of my favorite activities is sitting down and making a new playlist from scratch. While this is certainly an activity one can do on Spotify, the plethora of auto-generated and personally tailored playlists discourages this exploration. Apple Music still has enough recommendations to help you find what you want, but it necessitates a certain amount of individual creativity that fosters the joy of making a new playlist.

On Dec. 2, 2023 at 1:24 a.m. — while at a Spotify Wrapped-themed party — I texted a friend, “I love Apple Music sm.” One year later, I proudly stand by that statement.

—Incoming Comp Director and Campus Executive Hannah M. Wilkoff is soliciting your Apple Music Replay and most targeted daylists at hannah.wilkoff@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Apple Music @hmwilkoff or on Spotify at hannah dub (she can’t figure out her handle, Spotify is complicated).