After a decade on Apple Music—day one in 2015 to now—and as the service marks its tenth anniversary in India this month, the latest cross-platform refresh crystallises why it has become my default. Apple has married language-aware lyrics, DJ-style flow, and genuinely useful curation with a practical, India-first editorial spine. Rolled out alongside the Liquid Glass design across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS, the update adds Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation, AutoMix, an upgraded Sing mode that turns my iPhone into a TV-routed mic with Continuity Camera, Music Pins at the top of my library, in-app Replay stats, animated album art on the Lock Screen, and Home Screen widgets. Add Spatial Audio (introduced in June 2021) and a full lossless catalogue, and Apple Music is no longer just competitive; it is compelling.
The Big Upside: Effortless Language And Unbroken Flow
Lyrics Translation renders words into my chosen language; Lyrics Pronunciation gives me the phonetic scaffolding to sing along in languages I do not speak. Apple says these features rely on machine learning with expert tuning to preserve emotion, cultural context and lyrical intent, with more languages coming over the next year. AutoMix, meanwhile, time-stretches and beat-matches to glide from track to track—sensibly disabled on albums, pre-sequenced DJ mixes and genres where sequencing is sacred—so a playlist behaves like a set, not a shuffle.
How I Listen: From Seven HomePods To LDAC On Android
At home, seven HomePods grouped together turn living rooms into lounges; for critical listening I AirPlay to KEF LSX II for lossless wireless, and when a mix is delivered in Dolby Atmos the Spatial Audio soundstage snaps into place. On the move, it is AirPods Pro 3 or AirPods Max (second generation) with my iPhone; on Android, I reach for the JBL Tour M3 Smart TX because LDAC support keeps fidelity honest. Day to day, catalogue depth is the quiet killer feature: I routinely find songs missing on Spotify and even local services like Gaana. On the road, Apple Music is a staple via CarPlay in my Kia Carens Clavis EV.
Why It Beats Every Other Service For Me
Across rivals, Apple Music is the most complete package: the best library for the music I actually search for, a seamless user interface that stays out of the way, and the best implementation of Spatial Audio and lossless streaming I have used. Crucially, many albums are tuned for the platform, so when the master is right, mixes feel purpose-built rather than retrofitted. And for rock specifically, the catalogue is exhaustively deep—everything from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin and Tame Impala sits ready to play—so crate-digging becomes indulgence, not admin. The result is simple: I spend less time fiddling and more time listening.
Competitor Reality Check In India
No streaming service matches Apple Music for completeness, especially in India. Spotify has only just begun rolling out lossless audio in more than fifty markets and, as of mid-October, has not confirmed availability for India; Apple included lossless in 2021 at no extra cost and added Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio at scale. Spotify still lacks native Spatial Audio/Dolby Atmos support, which leaves a gap for immersive mixes that Apple now treats as table stakes.
Beyond features, Spotify is dealing with catalogue turbulence as some artists protest CEO Daniel Ek’s personal €600 million investment in Helsing, a defence-AI company; recent removals and boycott calls have tied that controversy to the Israel–Gaza context.
YouTube Music may surface the odd bootleg or live cut via YouTube’s ecosystem, but it still doesn’t offer lossless audio or Spatial Audio, which rules it out for high-fidelity listening. Amazon Music does both lossless and spatial, but in the Indian market it remains a marginal player in mindshare and programming relative to Apple’s editorial footprint.
Artist Pay: The Numbers
On payments, Apple has publicly stated that its average per-stream payout is about one US cent (roughly Rs 0.83) on individual paid plans, with a headline 52 percent going to labels/rights holders. Industry trackers estimate Spotify’s average per-stream payout in the range of zero point three to zero point five US cents (roughly Rs 0.25 to Rs 0.42), varying by territory and deal. The spread matters for working artists—and it aligns with how both platforms position themselves.
DJ Nights Without DJ Gear
As the curator of warpcore—and a lifelong house and disco tragic—Apple Music’s improved handling of DJ mixes is the difference between a good night and a great one. Discovery is cleaner, the catalogue is deep, and AutoMix lands transitions at the sensible moments I would choose on CDJs. Energy holds, flow remains, and I am not hunting for change-over points when I should be hosting.
Karaoke That Does Not Murder The Mix
Apple Music Sing keeps beat-synchronised lyrics and adjustable lead-vocal levels, but letting the iPhone double as a microphone (piping my voice through the TV) and using Continuity Camera for visuals turns spontaneous karaoke into a feature, not a fiasco. Live Lyrics gives everyone the words; controlled vocal levels mean even the most enthusiastic friends cannot derail the aural experience in the name of fun.
Pins, Widgets And Motion Where It Matters
Music Pins fix the things I love—songs, albums, playlists, artists—at the top of my library. A Pins widget mirrors that on the Home Screen; a Live Radio widget offers one-tap entry into Apple Music’s six live stations. On the Lock Screen, animated album art “breathes” in step with Liquid Glass controls: legible, tasteful, and never in the way.
Switching Pain, Solved
Apple now offers an in-app path to transfer libraries and playlists from rival services. The locked-in inertia that keeps people from moving—gone. It is the most quietly important upgrade of the lot.
Designed & Curated For India
The service leans on a catalogue of over one hundred million songs and some thirty-thousand editorial playlists across Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali. Mood and activity sets—Romance, Chill, Dance, Workout—sit alongside decade anthologies like ’90s Bollywood Essentials. Artist-led series—Essentials, Love Songs, Deep Cuts, Sing, Chill, Producers and The Songwriters—push you past the obvious. That approach resonates with artists themselves.
As Armaan Malik puts it, “Working with Apple Music has been an amazing experience! Seeing my music reach audiences worldwide through their platform, cutting across demographics, cultures, and borders, is a beautiful reminder of the universal power of sound and storytelling.”
Jonita Gandhi’s experience mirrors that arc: “Apple Music has been such an integral part of my journey - from discovering sounds that inspire me to sharing my own music with the world. It’s been a big part of how my songs find their way to people who truly listen. Here’s to 10 years of connecting artists and listeners in the most beautiful way.”
And Anuv Jain nails the sentiment of a service embedded in daily life: “Apple Music has literally been with me for so many of my highs and lows, and I'm so happy that I've gotten a chance to put my music on the platform and be a part of their journey here in India. A big congratulations to the entire team. Keep doing what you guys do, and can't wait for the next 10 years.”
A Wedding-Season Flex Worthy Of A Baraat
Shaadi Mubarak packages more than twenty playlists in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu for ceremonies, artist-curated sets, music videos and beloved wedding albums. It runs through the season and removes the friction from soundtracking the Great Indian Wedding. One tap, and the sangeet does not miss a beat.
Radio, Studios And A Retail Engine
Apple Music Radio is a round-the-clock slate of interviews, premieres and themed shows. Zane Lowe and the hip-hop team have hosted Karan Aujla, Prateek Kuhad, Badshah, DIVINE and Raja Kumari. Artists have taken the wheel too—Armaan Malik’s six-episode Only Just Begun Radio; Ikky’s six-part Punjabi Takeover Radio, tracing the genre from Punjab to Coachella-scale stages. In Los Angeles, Apple has opened a new studio with a day-long global artist takeover; Diljit Dosanjh used the hour to reveal the release date for his album Aura on air.
On the ground, Apple executives in India told us they are ramping up performances at Apple BKC in Mumbai and tightening collaboration with Apple Retail; due to space constraints, the other three stores have not hosted music performances yet, though in-store programming remains a focus. Since August 2023, Apple says BKC alone has run close to twenty sessions featuring Armaan Malik, Shekhar Ravjiani, Lisa Mishra, Prateek Kuhad, Amit Trivedi, Kayan, Rashmeet Kaur and Mali.
Sound Quality That Grew Up In 2021
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos and lossless streaming landed in June 2021 at no additional cost. Since then, the novelty has become default: room-filling on grouped HomePods, clean and revealing over AirPlay to KEF LSX II, faithful on AirPods Max and AirPods Pro 3, and properly high-fidelity on LDAC-capable cans on Android. When a master is right, the intent is obvious.
The Policy Spine And The Distribution Muscle
Apple’s stance has not budged: music is art, not a giveaway. The company remains opposed to entirely free, ad-funded tiers, arguing they reduce songs to disposable background noise and muddy attribution. Distribution in India, however, keeps widening through partnerships with Airtel, Zomato and even other partnerships are rumoured.
Plans And Pricing In India
Apple Music Individual costs Rs 119 per month. The Family plan is Rs 179 per month for up to six people. The Student plan is Rs 59 per month. Apple One Individual—Apple Music, Apple TV+, Arcade and iCloud storage—is Rs 195 per month.
Verdict: The Pros That Tip The Balance
Language access that preserves nuance. Seamless, smart transitions that respect albums and elevate playlists. A catalogue that actually has the music I am hunting for—and, in my experience, the most exhaustive rock library anywhere: from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin and Tame Impala. A user interface that is elegant and frictionless. Platform-tuned albums that showcase Spatial Audio and lossless at their best—and the best execution of both I have heard on any service. Hardware fluency from seven-speaker rooms to LDAC phones. Live Lyrics and iPhone-as-mic that turn house parties into karaoke without wrecking the mix. India-first curation that feels authored, not algorithmic, and a retail-studio-radio pipeline that keeps discovery human. Add the library-transfer escape hatch and pragmatic touches like Pins and widgets, and Apple Music does not just catch up—it conducts. |
