Apple Music integration (with new Apple Music Web-API?)

Hmmm previously it was mp3 quality so was never worth investigating. Now it’s lossless quality right up to 24/192 so worth asking. This was just rolled out in June 2021 has something changed?
Find it interesting how non Roon staff keep answering, its a request. Let them acknowledge or reject.
BTW this thread is called New Feature Requests!
You think Bryston is making it work on their hardware they reinvented the wheel or perhaps Apple is now working with interested parties seeing they have missed a large segment of market loosing clients to Tidal and Qobuz.

It’s not a matter of playing the files , it’s the visual display part. To make that happen Roon need far more data than the Apple API provides and the consensus is that Apple won’t play ball with catalogue data dumps etc.

Read the related threads you will see comments by Roon’s COO on the subjects. It’s been replied to officially and effectively written off

Keep plugging away it’s your prerogative as a paying user, but don’t be surprised at replies similar to mine

Happy listening :sunglasses:

Again everything has changed June2021…when were these post 2019? Can I add fireworks to highlight the date?
Hey no problem will shut off Roon and use Bryston’s interface instead. 75 million songs no extra charge for streaming lossless is a pretty good incentive.

Will enjoy the music more if a service I already pay for is supported. Again why respond you have no control over what Roon does. APPLE NOW SUPPORTS ANDROID AS WELL.

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Roon can’t just decide to integrate Apple Music. Apple would have to work with Roon to accomplish that, and as of yet has not shown any desire to do so.

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various members of the Roon team have answer other requests for Apple Music integration numerous times, to the point that they are getting sick and tired of it, I bet. This request has been made of probably at least 15-20 other threads. For it to happen, firstly Apple would want to do it. Why would they? Roon has a little over 100,000 subscribers, Apple has between 75-80 MILLION users. Many Roon users already are Apple Music users. Even if Apple got every Roon subscriber not currently using AM to sign up for it, it would only increase their subscribership maybe 0.1%. To achieve this miniscule increase, they would have to give Roon daily dumps of metadata and other data, which would cost Apple to do it. From a business standpoint, there is absolutely zero benefit to Apple to work on Roon integration. The same for Amazon Music, Spotify and any near that size. Only a much smaller company would benefit. Now, when P.S. Audio gets the internet radio program up and running, then a Roon / P.S. Audio integration would be a great marriage, I think. PSA would win by opening up to a larger audience from the git go, and Roon would win by having several more high quality radio stations.

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I wonder if any of those clamoring for Roon integration has ever told Apple they want it? As I’m not an AM subscriber, it wouldn’t affect me, but I’d be very very happy to see the seeming impossible to happen, and have Apple want to integrate with Roon. If they did, I might actually become an AM subscriber. And danny would be doing backflips. But, danny realizes it doesn’t make sense for Roon to spend time and money pursuing it. They have made Apple aware of their interest already.

I use both Roon and Audirvana. With Audirvana it’s pretty much the same story.
People there, like here, have been asking for Apple Music integration.

Audirvana’s answer is that it’s currently not possible, because the API Apple uses doesn’t allow to be used by an external program. Same goes for Roon.

When it comes to Apple Music and lossless. The only way I can play it here at my place is by hooking up my 2017 MacBook Air to my Audiotrak dac. It’s only 24/96 so high-res isn’t even an option. Fun part is, on my Windows laptop I can hook up the same dac, but it won’t play lossless because iTunes doesn’t support it. It can play 24/192 ALAC, but not from Apple Music.
Besides that not even all Apple devices support lossless and high-res. Nor Windows based computers, nor Android based smartphones.

Makes me believe that Apple just hopped on the hi-res bandwagon but doesn’t want to fully commit to it.

Personally I wouldn’t mind Apple Music integration. I’m basically paying double at the moment. Apple One and Qobuz subs. And I can hear the difference between Apple Music on my Windows laptop through iTunes or my MacBook with Apple’s own Music app.

That’s all on BlueSound, not on the APIs. An API is just a door to the native data and/or functionality. It does not provide anything interface/logic related, it just there to allow data access for external applications. There can be API limitations (technical or business related), no doubt about it, but everything else it’s up to the third party’s implementation.

One can create a roon like interface (both functional and experience) by only using MusicBrainz (to get all the metadata) and Spotify (for getting the actual playable stream) APIs for example. Also, everything that you see in the Qobuz (or Tidal or whatever) native application it’s also mapped over their respective APIs so just compare that with the BluOS to see what can be done. Now why BlueSound and others like them are choosing their agonizingly poor and stupid implementations I do not know (or care for that matter) but has nothing to do with the APIs being bad or good.

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Agreed badly worded, should have said how badly implemented basic APIs generally are. Bluesound being the main example, not sure Sonos is much better from my limited time with it. That said the ones that have the best integrations seem to be only from Tidal and Qobuz so perhaps they provide better APIs for this type of thing as they appear across a wide range of apps. None however with 3rd party metadata.

Innuos are attempting to do what you say with their new os and app but it’s not a patch on Roon currently and has taken them years to get off the ground and only works for one service. If it was as easy as you infer then many more would have emerged surely as the APIs have been around for sometime. Other device apps are being developed in a similar way but again it will be only Tidal and Qobuz as these are the ones that seem to allow it by nature of thier APIs. Spotify, Amazon’s and Apples so far do not seem as flexible as others. But yes this should not stop a decent looking interface.

I just tried Concertmaster for Spotify one of the few frontends to see what their webapi allows and it’s still not what I would call great experience.

Quick question but do the beta features coming with MusicKit for iOS 15 et al. change the narrative, in any way, on the API issue?

Music Kit Beta for iOS 15 etc

Nope, just forget Music Kit it’s of no use nor ornament for integrating the service into software library app like Roon /Audivarna or hardware. It’s just for companion apps and websites to allow access to Apple Music services. This gives you an idea of what it’s for.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/9to5mac.com/2019/11/14/concertino-apple-music-classical-music-player/amp/

https://concertino.app/

You can’t retain their data nor use your own player architecture it has to use theirs.

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I tested Apple music over airplay to my Ropieee endpoint last night. Sounded ok, but Qobuz via Roon was better, maybe due to the bit rate limitation of airplay . The Apple app is a bit of a mess as well and their curation is definitely not that great.

What is the fuss about? Is everyone just wanting to spend $5 a month less? When you spend what we do on software, amps, DACs and speakers, it doesn’t make much sense. $60 a year is not worth selling your soul to an ecosystem for.

Support Qobuz or Tidal… They are niche now and can survive if audiophiles don’t jump ship. We are their niche.

And if streaming costs come down, who will lose out? The artists. It won’t be the labels or apple.

I can see a case for Spotify, their playlists are an improvement on the other services. But that isn’t going to happen.

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The fuzz, to me, is about Roon’s survival - Tidal and Qobuz are threatened by Apple and Spotify entering the lossless market. If they go under, and without any other integration in Roon, Roon will be the proverbial doorstop for me.

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“For you.” Stop laying this on Roon and everybody else. We each need to do the right thing and it won’t be a doorstop. Stop running after the latest shiny object that Apple and other mega-corporations try to lure you with (the ring, I must have the ring) and spend the extra few bucks a month. If one can’t afford it, the price of decent dinner or two a year, then obviously one has bigger problems than audiophile software integration.

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But they are surviving now aren’t they? If Roon added Apple Music and everyone on Roon suddenly dumps Tidal and Qobuz for Apple, it’s Qobuz and Tidal that might disappear. If Roon sticks by it’s long term partners, they have much better chance of surviving.

Apple doesn’t give a @$*! about audiophiles - their COO just stated that he didn’t think most people will get hear the difference with High Res music. Why should we just bend over to them and screw all the smaller companies who do care?

And Apple currently isn’t a threat on GUI. It’s terrible, which I find shocking. Will it get better? Maybe. Their recommendations are kind of poor as well.

Are they going to try and sort out classical music tagging? Not a chance. Roon and Tidal/Qobuz are much more likely to try that.

The same can be said of Spotify, however they are more of a threat. The GUI is better and their playlists are better. But this is why Roon is investing in Valance.

Audiophiles are served by a niche industry…let’s not screw that industry over to bow down to the multinational corporations. Or do you want to listen to everything on Beats or an Airpod connected by Bluetooth?

If Roon are smart they know this and are expecting to stay niche and ensure their long term survival by planning for that.

If they put all their eggs in the Apple/Spotify basket and either contribute to killing Tidal and Qobuz or create tension with their existing partner and Apple/Spotify changes their mind, what then? They may then have no options. In that case, going down the Apple/Spotify route is actually a threat to their existence.

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The danger for Roon is very real, no doubt.
I see troubles ahead for Roon, Qobuz and Tidal.
Lossless and HighRes a la Apple, Spotify and Amazon will be good enough for for the biggest part of the potential streaming public. They will kill the smaller services via their lower monthly or yearly fees. Plus, they have no interest in a partnership with Roon.
Roon can only hope they get acquired by one of them or they buy Qobuz or….

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Threatend by what? You could say every high priced hifi component is threatend by Sonos yet they survive. The average consumer doesn’t give a hoots or knows what lossless is or cares about artists being paid or anything they just want cheap disposable music. Let them have Amazon, Spotify and Apple. Both Tidal and Qobuz are more niche services and will always have appeal and thus appeal is not just about lossless or hires and will continue to appeal to those niches. Same goes for Roon, it will loose some to those who think plugging an iPad or phone into their system is optimal, good luck to them, plenty more will come along for a better experience.

We all.know as it stands Apple Music and Spotify are non starters for Roon and Apples pretty much non starter for hifi in general right now unless you want compromised airplay or a layer of phaff. So can we just move on from this Tidal and Qobuz are doomed nonsense.

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Yes, for me. If Roon has no streaming services then I would not find it very useful.

I have laid down the reasons: Apple and Spotify going lossless threatens Tidal and Qobuz’s existance. This is pretty obvious.

I am not running after Apple or Spotify, I am simply suggesting that getting Apple on board should be a top priority, not because I like Apple or dislike the other streaming services but because of the obvious fact that Tidal and Qobuz might disappear.

There are other options of course, like Roon becoming a streaming services via 7digital.

For the record, I have been a subscriber to both Tidal and Qobuz since each started streaming in the US. I also subscribe to Spotify and get Apple music for free. And I subscribe to Soundcloud. No, I don’t have a money problem.

For the record, I will give my opinion and will try to be objective. If you don’t like it, too bad.

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Pure nonsense. Spotify and Apple lossless are a direct threat to Roon ‘s existence if they can’t somehow incorporate their services , even if it’s simply Apple Airplay and Spotify Connect .

I think the odds of Qobuz and Tidal surviving are slim .

I have to say when Spotify lossless becomes available , I will use it for the home and Apple for
mobile .

And I like Qobuz but it simply has too many bugs and library gaps . It is simply terrible for mobile .

That leaves Roon in the dustbin and I have a lifetime sub and really like Roon.

It’s just the way it is .