MusicSmart - Liner Notes 4+

Amazing when used from the action menu, pretty useless otherwise (and that’s okay)

The way to use this app is definitely from the action menu. When listening to a song on Apple Music, click share song and scroll down for the option to open in this app. A pop up comes up with tonssss of information.

The one this this app is missing that I really would like is the ability to launch songs in Apple Music from this pop up. Let’s say I’m listening to a song and like it, so I go to the action menu to bring up MusicSmart. Here I see an unfamiliar producer, so I click their name and look at their popular songs. It is from here that I would like to be able to click on one of these songs and have it then start playing on Apple Music.

This app adds a lot to my listening experience. So glad it exists.

Something for us album sleeve readers

I’m one of those that read every little word on my vinyl albums - and even what was occasionally scratched into the run out area of my singles and albums!

I love having my music so accessible on my iPhone and iPad but with that gain has come the loss of so much we treasured that wasn’t just the music, but was *about* the music. This app and share sheet item searches for some or all (depending on what it finds) of those missing writers, what instruments they played, the producers and more. The great thing is that a lot of these entries are also linked, yielding further discoveries - what else did the producer do, what were Alice Cooper’s most popular singles and so on.

For any music lover this is a wonderfully enriching addition to an Apple Music library - the only way to improve it might be to present (some of) the information in a more aesthetic style so it is more like an album insert or a CD booklet.

Another fantastic music app from this developer

I love music and, while I appreciate the huge benefits of streaming through Apple Music, I do miss the detail that you used to find on the cover and inside sleeves of vinyl LPs.

I’ve been using the MusicHarbor app - which lists upcoming music from my favourite artists - for some time now. So, I was excited to read that the same developer had created MusicSmart.

It provides a huge amount of extra details on the tracks in my Apple Music library, along with hi-resolution album covers and detail on the artists and other performers on albums.

What I’ve found most interesting so far, though, is to see which of my albums have been Mastered for iTunes. I’ve been surprised at some of the results. Major artists - who I’d assume would automatically Master for iTunes - don’t always.

If you’re very into your music detail and like to delve deeper into your favourite albums, this is a fantastic app for the price.

Developer Response ,

Thanks so much for this great review! I also use this feature a lot, to see which albums have been Mastered for iTunes! In the last update I changed the name to Apple Digital Masters because the program was rebranded last year.