Apple Music subscribers may have noticed a gray star next to some songs on albums and playlists. Here's what the symbol means and why it's useful.

Apple Music subscribers may have noticed a star next to some songs in an album or playlist, but what does the symbol mean? Apple Music can be used on various platforms, including Android, Windows, and Amazon's Echo devices. It’s packed with features, and supports spatial and lossless audio with Dolby Atmos. Users can discover new music and playlists, listen to live radio, and download and stream music on the Apple Watch. Apple Music also works with Siri, meaning users can use voice commands to play music. With iOS 16, Apple introduced new features including a full-screen music player on the lock screen that can be minimized into a smaller visualizer.

Apple Music highlights popular tracks and album releases so that users know what's trending, and that's exactly the function of the stars on the app. Within albums and playlists, some songs may have a gray star next to their name. According to Apple, this star means it is one of the most popular tracks on the album. The popularity is defined by the number of ratings a song has received. The star is particularly useful visual indicator if a user is listening to an album for the first time and wants to listen to the best or most highly-rated songs first.

Ratings On Apple Music

Apple Music doesn't automatically assign stars to a song, and these are instead collected from user ratings. Users who don't want to see ratings on the app and decide for themselves can choose to turn this feature off. To do this on an iOS device, open Settings and scroll down to 'Music.' Under the Library section, turn off the toggle next to 'Show Star Ratings.' Unchecking this option will remove star ratings from the app.

Apple Music users who enjoy rating music on the other hand can do this as well. While a song is playing on the app, tap on the ellipsis button (three dots) to bring up the action menu. Tap on 'Rate Song' and then assign a star rating between one and five stars. Tap 'Done' to complete. It's worth mentioning that a star rating doesn't have to be permanent. Users can choose to change their rating of a song by repeating the process as many times as they like. Apple Music previously allowed users to rate songs using Siri, but that functionality was abruptly removed in iOS 15.

Apple recently expanded its musical offerings with the addition of a separate app dedicated to classical music. Apple Music Classical launched in March 2023, and although it’s a distinct app, it’s included with users’ existing Apple Music subscriptions. That means for the most part, Apple Music users can tune in at no additional cost. The only subscription plan it doesn’t work with is the Siri-only Voice plan. Apple Music Classical was highly anticipated, and the company boasts it has the largest catalog of classical music in the world. As with the original Apple Music app, it has features designed for music discovery to help users find exactly what they want to listen to.

Source: Apple Support/Twitter