Siri and the music chart question kerfuffle

A kerfuffle is brewing. A tiny one.

Ask Siri:

What was the top song in 2012?

If you are subscribed to Apple Music, Siri will fire up Somebody That I Used to Know. If you are not, Siri will defer, telling you you don’t have access to Apple Music.

Now ask Siri:

What’s the top song this week?

This time, Siri will point out a variety of web articles, whether or not you have Apple Music installed.

This issue is getting a lot of coverage. Some of the reaction, perhaps predictably, is quite negative, implying that Apple is intentionally holding back data from non-subscribers.

If the result of the query is a song, Siri is programmed to play it for you. If Siri can’t play the song, she tells you. Not seeing any evil intent here.

I do find it interesting that Siri will go to the web if there is no built-in chart data, but not offer that web solution when she does have the chart data but the user does not have Apple Music. Why not point them to the web and, if you must, make your Apple Music sales pitch along the way? Seems to me, that’d be more useful to the person who asked the question in the first place.