When I fired up Spotify this morning I was taken to a “this is new” screen and I knew I was hosed. Played a track and sure enough the track length timer disappears after a few seconds. Oh, sure, you can touch the album art and the numbers will reappear, only to fade away. Frustrating.
So I checked to see; how did this happen? Did I do something incorrectly in my settings that would have prevented this? Turns out no. Opening the App I see that Spotify is waiting for me to click update, along with all the others. So Spotify updated without my approval 🙁
So what to do?
I'm not seeing any option on my iPhone other than frequently tapping the screen.
Taking one for the ICI/PRO team, I crossed my fingers and updated Spotify on my iPad. That works! The playlist timer remains on. So that's going to be my device until if/when Spotify changes the iPhone version.
Beyond that, I suppose we'll have to wait a few weeks and – I hate to even consider this – and switch to Apple Music 🙁 Then of course there's the issue with the hundreds of playlists many of us have built. Will there be a way to convert a Spotify music playlist to an Apple Music playlist? We have a tool here to convert music playlists from Spotify to Deezer. I'll have to get cracking on that ASAP.
OK, I was wrong when I said last week that Apple doesn't do “Me Too!” products and services. I just sat through the live presentation and didn't see anything that would persuade me to switch from Spotify. They made a bunch of noise about “connecting” with artists, but nothing about sharing or connecting with other users. From what I could see there isn't anything that will improve how you deliver your class music. Even Apple's playlist timer fonts are tiny 🙁
I'll still try it at the end of the month when it's released as an iOS 8.4 update. It sounded like Apple Music will be built into iTunes… or the other way round, so every iPhone/iPad will automatically get it.
Pricing
Apple Music will offer a free 3 month trial, then it's $10.00 a month. There is no free option like Spotify. If you have a bunch of users in your house, the family share plan (up to six users) for $15 a month might be of interest. It could help me and Amy save $60 a year.
What's it going to be? iTunes or Spotify in the future?
Apple's big announcement is supposed to be tomorrow – when they launch the iTunes (or whatever they decide to call it) streaming service! I can't wait to see what they're offering and learn if I'll be switching away from Spotify anytime soon.
There's a bunch of industry press asking if there is anything Apple could offer in an App, that would be an improvement over the Spotify App so many of us enjoy. Tweek this or that feature maybe, but there are many who feel Spotify has broken the code on streaming music.
Could Apple improve how we deliver music in our classes?
Apple doesn't do “Me Too” products or services. If you'll excuse the pun here. They do Apple… or they go home 🙂 Seeing how dominate Spotify has become in streaming – the company is valued at $8 Billion – I have a hard time believing Apple would make a half hearted attempt to compete.
Then there's the pride issue here. Apple revolutionized the digital music industry back in the 2000's. They've sat on their hands while Spotify, Deezer and Pandora are taking serious bites out of Apple's revenues. My prognostication is that Apple will roll out something very cool tomorrow. I can't wait to try it, learn it and then teach everyone how to use it in their classes!
Now that it's summer, I like to transition from serious > to fun classes. Not sure exactly why… maybe because when it's cold and dark in the morning, I tend to think if we can't be outdoors we might as well be training with focus.
Summer, on the other hand, causes me to lighten up and try to be more entertaining and fun. Here's a few tracks that I'll be using in the coming weeks.[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
Not sure where I found this but I remember I Shazamed it the instant I heard it. There's a nice 30 second finish you might use as a final sprint.
I know I heard T-Shirt Weather when I was at American Eagle Outfitters last week.
I'm going to set the mood for my next class with this fun remix – I can't help smiling listening to it 🙂 Doesn't this sound free and easy? You might also use it as an aerobic transition between a pair of intervals.
Here's the MP3 to download Right Click > Save As.[/wlm_private]
