(5) Critique on Apple Music iPad app

APPLE MUSIC

I'm going to focus on 2 points: UI/UX and Commercial potential.

UI/UX
The group analysed the annoying points of Apple Music.

• Wall of text on artists page that is distracting and useless
• Buttons everywhere
• Dropdown bar has too many options
• Unclear texts-- can't read. 

These are true painpoints for Apple music users and really confusing for users. Creating a good UX is extremely important for Apple who's rolling out a new service. Apple already has an advantage as an established brands, so user acquisitions is not really a difficult thing for them since there's so many diehard Apple fans who's super willing to try any Apple service/product. But face it, users will still leave if the UI/UX sucks. And Apple always champion on simplicity, so a confusing and messy app certainly turns their loyal fans off a lot!!

Group3 also mentioned that Apple should just focus on the music service and execute it perfectly.

Apple's connect service tries to be like Instagram where people can like, comment and share. However, it is not working with people as the number of likes is pathetic. It is important for the group to point out this part because it shows that Apple Music is still at an infant stage and further refinement has to be done to enhance the app. Also, a very important lesson to all new apps like Apple Music: Focus on your core product; what works for others do not necessarily work for you.

Commercial potential

Commercial potential is extremely important for music streaming services because the music industry is booming and more and more people are turning to music streaming.

The group calculated that Apple will rake in $99.9million per month with a mere 1% subscription from it's current user base. This number is based on the number of 1 billion iOS devices shipped. But there's a slight flaw in this calculation because number of iOS devices shipped ≠ number of Apple users. In fact, most Apple users have at least 2 iOS devices. So they would only need to pay for 1 price $9.90. Also, with the family membership, up to 6 people in the family can share the cost of $14.99/month.

Instead of giving the estimated subscription value in numbers, maybe the group can focus on how artists can promote/advertise on Apple music should Apple music gets more users onboard. Furthermore, Taylor Swift has successfully made a few music labels be more receptive towards Apple Music since Apple has promised to pay the musicians. Good relationships with the artists can even further suggest collaborations like music concerts, etc. Therefore, the revenue will come not just come from subscription, but also advertising and collaborations.

My Original Thoughts on Apple Music
When Apple Music first arrived, my first thought was - "Alright, Spotify is gonna die...". I was looking primarily from the competition perspective. I wasn't really thinking much about the UI/UX because as much as I have 3 Apple devices, I'm still not a user of Apple music. Lol. Too lazy to change.

• User base: Apple Music has the Apple branding and it will encourage a lot of Apple users to take up the platform since Apple gives 3 month free trial to users as well as some family bundle price. Essentially, the topic goes back to the Apple ecosystem. It wants to trap many people to be in the ecosystem so that everything can be synchronised nicely. 
• Company: Spotify is a startup. Apple is an established company. The amount of cash Apple hold is more than enough even if Apple music's fails (mind you, Apple's cash= $200 billion). Therefore, it is totally reasonable and worth it for Apple to take on this risk to expand their foray into music streaming. This means that Apple is willing and capable of compromising their profit margins to motivate user acquisitions. Once user is onboard, the trial 3 months is to get them be used to Apple Music and if user retention is successful after the trial period, they will be able to keep them in the Apple ecosystem and roll out more monetization features to make up the initial margin loss. Tough fight for Spotify who has been bleeding terribly.  

 On hindsight, after yesterday's presentations (and over the past few weeks of lessons and assignments), I think I have developed a more acute sense towards UI/UX. I have started to pay more attention to UI features like screen real estate usage, list of options from the dropdown bar, etc when I'm using my own apps. One very important thing that I've learnt is that, native apps are better because it is developed for the app's needs. Web ≠ iPhone ≠ iPad. Different sizes, different typing method, different experiences. So curating the app to the specific device matters. People use different devices for varying purposes.

On a side note, really thankful for Assignment 2 teammate Zheng Yi for tanking the presentation. Lost my voice on Sunday night when I was supposed to be presenting for the group on Monday..... :(