While the fun of “The Sentence,” a feature of Beats Music, does not appear in Apple Music, its most imporant aspect — perfectly curated playslist — lives on.
When Beats Music was announced in January of 2014, I had accounts with Rdio and Pandora, and each served a purpose. I used Pandora’s themed, streaming stations as a limitless shuffle mode, while Rdio was an ubiquitous library of on-demand music. Beats Music offered both options plus the careful curation of its employees and partners. I was hooked and went all-in shortly after launch, ditching both Rdio and Pandora.
A standout feature was “The Sentence.” I’d describe it as defining a streaming station via Mad Libs. It offered four options:
- I’m [activity]
- & feel like [activity]
- to [style of music]
- with [person/group of people]
There were several options for each blank space, and in my experience, the results were often dead on, as far as finding music that matched my mood and situation. I used it several times per week and it was my favorite feature of the app (it did into appear in the Beats Music web app). When Beats Music became Apple Music, I wondered if The Sentence would make the transition. The answer is “kind of.”
The Mad Libs aspect is gone, but Apple Music does offer playlists designed to match your mood or activity. To find them, follow these steps on the Apple Music iOS app:
Tap New Scroll to “Activities” Tap Activities
As of this writing, there are 20 options:
- BBQ-ing
- Breaking Up
- Celebrating
- Chilling Out
- Cooking
- Dancing
- Driving
- Entertaining
- Feeling Blue
- Getting It On
- Getting Ready to Go Out
- Kicking Back
- Partying
- Romancing
- Running
- Studying
- Vacationing
- Waking Up
- Working
- Working Out
Tap any one to browse several curated playlists. For example, I hit Waking Up this morning and found a slew of options, including an indie-themed list, a jazzy one, R&B, pop and more. The indie list was quite nice. Likewise, an alternative driving playlist kept me entertained while running errands.
I enjoyed the fun of assembling a sentence, but I understand that the real power of that feature was the playlist of music that’s just right. That’s what has been retained in Apple Music, and I’m glad for it.
