Apple Music radio

I listen to a lot of music. Although I prefer vinyl and the big setup I’ve got in the apartment (poor neighbors), I obviously stream a lot too. My music streaming service of choice is Apple Music, thanks to the sound quality, and the fact that they seem to pay artists more than Spotify. Also, it’s included in the Apple One subscription, so…

When I stream music, I play whole albums. I think the album, as an art form, is a lot more interesting than a playlist. The latter might be a good fit for a dinner party, at the gym, or when you want to share the music with other people but not necessarily listen to the same thing. Me, I rarely make playlists, and when I do, it’s for specific purposes. Albums, those are the best.

However, sometimes I can’t be bothered to pick an album. Or rather, pick the next album when the first one, the one I wanted to listen to, is over. I’m probably working on something and I don’t want to be disturbed, I just want some tunes playing.

Apple Music has this lovely feature, which I’m sure is present in other streaming apps too but I think it works well here, that it’ll continue playing when the album is over. It’s essentially constructing a radio station, without the blabbermouths and noisy car salesmen ads, based on the album you listened to. So, what I do is that I pick an album that I feel like listening to, but also take care that it fits my mood. Some albums are just stand-alone things where nothing can follow them in the same vein, P.J. Harvey’s White Chalk comes to mind, so you want to pick an album that has natural follow-ups. Then just let Apple Music be your DJ when the album is over. It works surprisingly well, and I’ve even found new music this way, which is fun.

(And yes, I know there are actual radio stations and the like, on Apple Music and elsewhere. The auto-playing algorithm is my radio station, tailored for the moment, which, unless I’m on the lookout for something I haven’t heard of, is what I want.)