The answer is yes!

The answer is yes!

Do ClassBuilder and Schwinn's Class Tamer iPhone Apps work with Apple Music?

This person on Facebook said they both do... which would be very cool. So I renewed my efforts, fought through the confusion and she's right! I was able to open an Apple Music playlist that Dennis Mellon sent me, with either ClassBuilder or Class Tamer with my iPad*. I added a few cues and nearly everything worked perfectly - even in off-line mode.

The two exceptions being the cross fade and tempo adjustment functions in Class Tamer won't work. It's because of the DRM that protects each track delivered through Apple's streaming service.

Class Tamer with Apple Music

With Apple Music, that would be all of the songs you selected have DRM.

* Tempering my enthusiasm is Apple Music on my iPhone still doesn't work. It refuses to see the the Apple Music playlists in iTunes on my laptop.

Here's that playlist from Dennis if you'd like to experiment. I'd open that link with your iPhone/iPad. Then set the playlist to Make Available Offline so ClassBuilder or Class Tamer can see the tracks. It appears to me that these downloaded tracks are normal AAC music files, except for the DRM that prevents you from copying, burning to a CD or keeping the files if you don't continue your monthly payments.

Tap the ... more icon for the off-line option

Tap the ... more icon for the off-line option.

 

When I tried to open it on my computer it repeatedly send me to the "Download iTunes" page - even though I had iTunes open. I rebooted everything and when I re-opened iTunes I could see the new playlist... but at this point I still can't drag the playlist onto my phone and sync using wifi or the cord.

Turns out that Apple had "issues" with their cloud service over the past two days = why I had zero success creating playlists and quit trying out of frustration.

At launch, many users had trouble adding new music to their libraries, due to an apparent bug with the iCloud Music Library, which wouldn't activate for some users (myself included). This feature, which allows you to sync your collection across devices, is apparently also required to add tracks to your collection in the first place (even if you're only using Apple Music on one device). Strange. Although Apple had apparently fixed the iCloud Music Library bug within a matter of hours, the fact that the service requires this extra step for such basic functionality is a head-scratcher. Nearly 24 hours later, the songs I've been saving in the app still aren't showing up under the "My Music" tab. Presumably that will change at some point.

While it's convenient to be able to merge your existing tracks with Apple Music's library, the mechanism used to do this will madden many people: You have to use iTunes. Some of us would prefer to never see or think about iTunes ever again. And the thing is, it's totally possible to transfer music from your computer to a phone without using clunky desktop software. Spotify lets you sync your local MP3s to its mobile apps, but even that requires routing things through the Spotify desktop app.

What an interesting space streaming music has become.

If this is real we'll have even more to look forward to Facebook launching 'unique' music service to rival Apple Music and Spotify

Facebook has been in talks with major record labels with the intention of "getting into music", according to reports.

Record labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group have all spoken with Facebook, according to The Verge, though the exact purpose of the talks has yet to be confirmed.

Speculation around why Facebook is expressing an interest in music has centred around the possibility of a streaming service to rival the likes of Apple Music and Spotify.

Sources close to the talks claim that they are still in the early stages, but suggest that Facebook is planning something "unique".

A separate report by Variety on 1 July detailing Facebook's intentions to test video ads could hint at the manner in which the social network plans to monetise any potential service.

Facebook's addition of listen buttons to artist's pages is as far as the firm has gone in creating its own music service and a fully developed streaming service could be seen as the next natural step.

With all the cash Facebook has, I wouldn't be surprised if they bought Spotify and/or Deezer shortly. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

 

John

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