Apple Music streaming service and Beats 1 radio launch day – as it happened

From its Zane Lowe-fronted radio station to the quasi-social network Connect, it's a big day in Apple's attempt to knock Spotify from its music-streaming perch. Nadia Khomami listens in to bring you her verdict

7.20pm BST

Okay, while Apple Music continues to inspire or irritate you, we're going to sign off. You can still tweet us your thoughts but I think we all need some time to crawl into a dark room and think about what's happened here today. Thanks for the comments.

7.19pm BST

Here are a few verdicts on Apple Music and Beats 1 Radio from tech commentators.

The Verge's Dieter Bohn writes:

Our first impressions are that although there are some unavoidable places where you can get lost, Apple Music has pulled off the basics of what you'd expect from a streaming music service. You can find the music you want (including, yes, Taylor Swift), and if you just want Apple's curators to help you stop being An Old who only listens to Built to Spill because he stopped paying attention to music 10 years ago, you can do that, too. I'm looking forward to finding more.

The first actual exclusive Beats 1 played was Freedom from Pharrell Williams. Lowe liked the song so much he played it twice -- something he had a habit of doing over on Radio One. Williams will be hosting his own show on Beats1 called Other Tone, which will be co-hosted by Cara Delevingne. Justin Timberlake is set to be the first Other Tone guest.

The most annoying things about Beats 1 are the incessant stings at the beginning, middle and end of every song that do not let you forget that you are listening to Beats 1. There were also two very noticeable glitches in the first hour that caused the audio to jump back ten seconds or so and play over. Let's hope Apple irons out whatever caused them, as that could get annoying very quickly.

Much of the Apple Music experience really is Beats Music. And this is a good thing. I always thought Beats had the best discovery mechanism of the streaming services. With live radio, human curated playlists and access to your iTunes purchase history, I'm really liking Apple Music.

Will it replace Spotify for diehard subscribers? That's a more complicated question - for now, however, the For Me section alone has made me excited about music for the first time in a long time. And that's a good thing.