Jason Snell: Apple Music has betrayed its most loyal listeners

The fact remains that if you listen to an Apple Music streaming radio station like Classic Rock or Alternative, you will eventually hear a 40-second ad for Zane Lowe or Strombo or other pre-recorded Apple Music radio episodes. What was once an ad-free music experience is now punctuated by… promo copy.

I don’t think this particular thing bothers me as much as it bothers Jason and Jim, but it does line up with a broader narrative that Apple’s shift to services has made them push their services on us more and more. The Music app is a nightmare if you’re not an Apple Music subscriber, iTunes basically just says “subscribe to Apple Music and Apple TV+!, the Settings app asks you to sign up for AppleCare and Apple Arcade, the files app would love it if you paid for more storage…

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for an operating system vendor to let users know about ways they can get more from their devices, but I certainly sympathize with folks who are growing impatient with stuff like this.