Why Apple's 'Me-Too' Music Service Was The Worst Part Of WWDC

Apple Inc. AAPL ended its WWDC 2015 presentation with a highly anticipated "one more thing" reveal that focused entirely on Apple Music. The new service uses the Apple name instead of the familiar "i" moniker, following in the footsteps of Apple Watch and Apple Pay. It will be available on June 30 in more than 100 countries worldwide. "I think it's a me-too service," Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told Benzinga. "I think there are better platforms that have better discovery and [provide] a better experience and [a] better music community." Chowdhry said that Apple Music proved to be the weakest part of Apple's presentation. "Apple should always lead and provide exponential advantages," said Chowdhry, who was impressed with everything else Apple revealed at WWDC. "When it comes to music, Apple is following the leadership. It is a me-too offering, which is not what Apple is considered to be. They should always be exponentially better than whatever else is available."

Related Link: Can Apple Convince Spotify Users To Pay $10 A Month For Music?

Willing To Pay? Apple Hopes So

Sean Udall, CIO of Quantum Trading Strategies and author of The TechStrat Report, reiterated his belief that Apple Music will appeal to customers who are already willing to pay for a streaming music service. "I'm not sure if Spotify has a family plan. I think the family plan is really smart," Udall told Benzinga. "I listen to ad-supported radio and like it just fine. I have a pretty big music library. I've definitely bought stuff off iTunes. I think people are making too big of a deal of the subscription offering and not looking at the radio and things that could be coming down the pipe." Udall is also keeping his eye on other Apple initiatives. "I think what Apple's doing with Spotlight Search is a huge deal," he said.

'Completely Useless Acquisition'

Meanwhile, Apple Music has reinforced Chowdhry's view of the Beats deal. "I think Apple's acquisition of Beats was a completely useless acquisition," said Chowdhry. "The headphones aren't going anywhere. I think Apple Music, what you're seeing, is a pretty useless announcement. I would also say Beats' acquisition was very shortsighted." Chowdhry said that everything else at WWDC "looks so good," but he was pretty bothered by Apple's implementation of Beats. "I think when it comes to Apple Music and Beats headphones they should just take a write-off of $3 billion," he added. "It was a very poorly orchestrated acquisition. That should be a wake-up call to the executives at Apple to think twice before they spend money." Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.