Yes, the new Apple Music, which debuted June 30, could very well be a Spotify killer, if only for the massive installed base that is 700 million iPhones sold and 800 million iTunes accounts in the wild. But it won't be because it does streaming music any better than Spotify, Pandora or Rdio.

It will be because it lets you discover new streaming music better than Spotify, Pandora or Rdio.

That's the real value of Apple Music, not just for music lovers but for the industry that provides the songs. This has been the biggest challenge for record labels since the dawn of digital downloads, something that Apple helped turn into a mainstream process thanks to iTunes, iPods and ultimately iPhones. The technology and distribution of song files and online music platforms is one thing; getting people to sample songs and artists that don't necessarily reside within their favorite genres - or maybe they do, but they don't know it because they haven't heard the music - is another, more complicated thing. It's not just about gathering up what's being said about artists representing The Next Big Thing on social media or elsewhere online. It's making it easily accessible for those who may not be aware of them.

Twitter, which saw how A-list celebrities and musicians were using their social network to connect with fans, tried to help two years ago with Twitter Music (insert one-hit wonder joke here). But Apple Music delivers the goods with an formidable combination of computer and human-powered recommendations that populate its New section on your iOS device, and Beats 1, its 24-hour global radio network that is the most pleasant surprise of this new service.

The three DJs that staff Beats 1 from studios in London, New York and Los Angeles play all genres with a minimum of interruptions - and maybe a dash of humor; on Tuesday afternoon I listened as Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" segued into a Kanye West single (all that was needed was DJ Zane Lowe cueing up an "Imma let you finish" drop from the 2009 Video Music Awards.) But later I heard AC/DC's "For Those About To Rock" and Beck's funky new "Dreams" single, which I quickly added to a playlist for offline listening.

About that playlist; it wasn't nearly as easy to create as the old iTunes way of doing things. It also took some time for certain radio songs to update the cover art and listings, but I'm putting that down to slammed servers on Day 1 of Beats 1. Overall, there's more to like with Apple Music than things to gripe about.

Other notes:

* Apple Music is now the best looking thing on my iPhone 6. It's colorful, not cluttered as some critics have claimed, and the user experience for the most part is a good one.

* The "bubbles" that pop up allowing you to choose your favorite genres and artists when you first sign up for Apple Music reminded me of mischievous Venn diagrams jostling for my attention.

* Beats 1 Radio gracefully integrates the existing, not-DJ-staffed iTunes radio feature. The result is a list of channels representing a wider variety of musical tastes than before. (The Kids & Family section includes a Frozen Radio channel. Parents, consider yourself warned.)

* Connect, the social aspect of Apple Music that allows established and new artists to share songs and photos while receiving comments from users still needs a little work. But here is yet another potential avenue for music discovery.

It's not just the chance to find my new musical obsession via Apple Tunes that has sparked my enthusiasm for it. It's the opportunity to discover what else this amped-up version of digital music can do while providing the soundtrack for my life. It may be $9.99 a month, but the first three months are free. That's more than enough time for skeptical users to check it out, play with it, and possibly change their tunes about Spotify and Pandora.