Users reported that Siri, the digital voice assistant of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), is beginning to hold back answers, providing information only to those who pay for the Apple Music service.
When you ask Siri about music, the voice assistant replies that she can not tell you what you need because “you don’t seem to be subscribed to Apple Music”. If you didn’t renew the subscription after the free trial period, you will probably get that response.
Users reported that this type of answer appeared when asking about music charts, information included as a feature of the Apple Music app, although many argue that the answer can be looked up by other means, just like Siri does with other questions. For example, Apple could separate the chart database from Apple Music, and look up the information on Billboard.
Experts believe that these restrictions were made by Apple to encourage users to subscribe to the company’s music streaming service, as most of them use other music providers such as Spotify, 8tracks, Pandora or even YouTube —all of them available for iOS.
Siri has been a reliable voice assistant that helps users answer questions in a fun and effective way, so many experts explain that these restrictions could make users consider to pay for Apple Music —or maybe just turn their backs to Siri.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, revealed last week that the service has nearly 6.5 million paid subscriber, well below one of its major competitor Spotify that has 20 million, according to AppleInsider. However, it is fair to remember that Apple Music was released only 4 months ago.
Apple Music offers you access to over 30 million songs by paying $9.99 a month, and allows you to get musical recommendations from people “who know and love music,” as to “deepen the connection between artists and fans,” Apple Music website explains about the service.
Source: NBC News