APPLE MUSIC STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS, TOP EXEC ADMITS

Team Cupertino is still in the process of working the kinks out of Apple Music, VP iTunes International Oliver Schusser admitted in an interview with The Guardian late last week. “There’s a lot of work going into making the product better. Our focus is on editorial and playlists, and obviously we have teams all around the world working on that, but we’re also adding features and cleaning up certain things.”

Asked about criticisms of Apple Music’s usability, Schusser responded, “The product is always our priority, and we are getting a lot of feedback. Remember, this was a very big launch in 110 markets instantly, so we get a ton of feedback. We’re obviously trying to make it better every day.”

Schusser played the party line on Connect, which some observers have already dismissed as Ping Mk 2. Connect is growing big-time with more and more artists connecting to their fans, but we still have a bit of homework to be done for the rest of the year.”

As for converting trial users to subscribers, a process that begins this week, Schusser acknowledged that “Streaming still needs a lot of education in the market. We have more of a worldwide view: The U.K. is a little more educated than other markets, but nothing like the places where streaming is already the number one way to consume music.”

To that end, the company is rebranding the eighth edition of its annual all-star festival in London the Apple Music Festival, while the fall TV campaign is expected to get more specific about what the streaming service is and does.

Labels and artists alike are trying to determine what Apple Music and streaming in general mean for their bank accounts. Apple exec Dr Dre’s Compton: A Soundtrack has become a Petri dish in that debate, logging 25m streams in its first week while also selling nearly 500k iTunes downloads, according to Apple.

“If you follow the industry and look at the numbers, the download business has been really, really healthy,” Schusser asserted. “iTunes is a big part of our business, still, and will continue to be, so we focus just as much time and energy on maintaining that, editorially and working on features. [Compton] is a really good example of how streaming and downloads can be successful side-by-side. What we’ve proven is that when there’s great content, customers will buy as well as listen.”

Schusser also insisted that the indies will get a fair shot on Apple Music. “We like independent artists as well as major-label artists; small as well as big artists,” he said. “If you listen to Beats 1 and do the math in terms of major-label artists versus independent artists, it’s the place you discover new music from any label.”