Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
A number of reviewers really like the new Apple Music Service. I wouldn’t know myself, not being an Apple-head, but the huzzahs are not universal:
- The dismal little online music shop that Steve Jobs opened on Monday has already received its share of lukewarm reviews.
One reader, describing the paucity of music available, compared it to “an airport bookstall, only without the gum and cigarettes”.
It’s certainly innovative: instead of taking out a monthly subscription to allow DRM infect your computer, Apple gives you the infection on the spot. No subscription is required: you can receive the disease at 99 cents per injection, until either your money runs out, or the Apple store runs out of contaminated music.
….One must not lose sight of the fact that share denial technology (DRM) is a subtle form of social engineering. It’s a technology of social control that alters our behavior and expectations every so slightly. But these little alterations, you tell us, matter a lot.
….But one unexpected aspect of the service was brought to our attention by reader and Mac veteran John Maas, who discovered that the Puritan prudes find some titles too offensive to publish in their original form.
No, not Gangsta Rap: but one of the jazz greats. [The Register]
Apple has censored the title to Miles Davis’ classic Bitches Brew – their version: B***ches Brew. This strikes me as exceedingly odd and you have to wonder what other titles have been altered or pruned.
