Spotify Growing at Faster Pace Since Apple Music Launched Last Year

[MacRumors]

Despite the launch of Apple Music, which recently reached 13 million paid subscribers, rival service Spotify told Reuters that it has experienced a faster pace of growth since last June than beforehand.

"It's great that Apple is in the game. They are definitely raising the profile of streaming. It is hard to build an industry on your own," Jonathan Forster, a vice president and one of its first employees, told Reuters in an interview.

"Since Apple Music started we've been growing quicker and adding more users than before."

Spotify recently announced that it has 30 million paying customers, compared to around 20 million paid subscribers last June, while its total active user base has grown to nearly 100 million from 75 million a year ago.

Apple has not recently disclosed how many users it has on a three-month trial for an overall comparison, but Spotify remains over 2x to 2.5x larger than Apple Music in terms of paid subscribers worldwide.

"It would be terrible if we were just taking each other's users or to learn there was just a ceiling of 100 million users - I don't think that is the case," said Forster, who had just returned to Stockholm from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California.

Apple Music has inevitably generated increased awareness of the concept of streaming music, which in turn has helped Spotify triple its paid subscriber base in just two years. The service, which launched in Europe in October 2008 and expanded to the U.S. in July 2011, had 10 million subscribers through May 2014.

Spotify continues to operate at a loss due to expensive royalties and revenue sharing with music label partners, but the Swedish company expects to eventually become profitable through continued subscriber growth. Spotify will also seek to earn increased revenue from advertising, concerts, merchandising, and video.

Spotify today announced that 12 new original series will be coming to the streaming music service this summer and fall, centered around music performances, music profiles, and music culture. Last year, the company also added video programming and podcasts from partners such as Comedy Central, ESPN, and MTV.

In related news, Spotify for iOS was recently updated with a new bottom navigation bar in lieu of its traditional slide-out "hamburger" menu.

Article Link: Spotify Growing at Faster Pace Since Apple Music Launched Last Year

 

[magicschoolbus]

I find Apple Music very difficult to use on all apple devices. It needs a redesign badly.

 

[nfl46]

I find Apple Music very difficult to use on all apple devices. It needs a redesign badly.

Yep! Luckily, we only have to wait one more month for the new update...iOS 10 Beta 1. It can't come soon enough, though. I love the fact that Spotify got rid of that hideous hamburger menu. It looks and functions soooo much better now.

 

[fel10]

Well, it is the better one out of the two, so not surprised.

 

[dewski]

yeah i left spotify for apple, but after the 3 months, i just wasnt digging the layout and navigation. I went back to spotify and have been happy.

 

[applesith]

Are they running at a faster loss too?

 

[Bbqthis]

I absolutely hate Spotify's focus on tracks and playlists. It always seemed so hard to just listen to a record on there. Never mind the fact that it seemed to continually post to Facebook even when I removed its permissions.

 

[Frankied22]

And yet Spotify doesn't have the new Radiohead album yet. If Spotify had the ability to let me upload my own music id be more open to letting it be my main music service. I hate not being able to fill in the catalogue gaps or when music gets taken away.

 

[surgeinc]

I get spotify premium through a partnership on my cell phone carrier. It is down right amazing. I have yet to have a desire to switch to apple music and likely never will based not he feedback i'm hearing.

Sometimes there's just better services out there

 

[69Mustang]

Rising tide raises all boats. Forster's right. Whether you like AM or not, Apple's entry into the streaming category definitely raised the profile and awareness of all the players. With all the AM v Spotify v GMAA v Tidal comparisons that popped up it was inevitable some subscriptions were generated.

 

[FSMBP]

It's sad. Apple always used to be "late to the party" but whatever they created would be better than what was out there (ex. Copy/Paste, Multitasking in iOS, etc..). Now, they have a habit of being late & their products being inferior.

 

[Sanlitun]

I had planned to leave Spotify last year but it is in fact the better system. AM for me has slightly better sound quality, but Spotify is worth it just for the Discover Weekly playlist and interface.

The music that AM shows me in the "For You" category is just a constant rehash of things I have already heard and it is never really presenting anything new to me. Spotify on the other hand has an uncanny way of finding something new or missed that I often really enjoy.

 

[drumcat]

It's proof that the streaming portion should have been a non-iTunes separate app. It's time to break up iTunes on the Mac into 5 apps, and if Music/iTunes Radio wants to survive, it has to at least be able to demonstrate what it does for people. It does a terrible job now BECAUSE it is integrated; the value prop is hidden for most people. In addition, it just gets people to listen to locally stored music. Then, they just want the stream, and off to Spotify Free they go. Then they get Spotify Premium, and say "Apple Music never did that". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[swupnil]

In related news, Spotify for iOS was recently updated with a new bottom navigation bar in lieu of its traditional slide-out "hamburger" menu.

Come on guys... it's called a Tab Bar.

Navigation Bar is at the top of the screen...

 

[doomfront]

I don't get the Apple Music hate. I've been using it for a while and I like it. The only thing I feel like Spotify does better are the playlists, because the playlists and recommended music in Apple Music is terrible. Also having everything synced through icloud is great.

 

[a.gomez]

well sure... best thing Apple music does is show how much better Spotify is. They also need to kill this fascination with iTunes and make a webapp.

 

[thekeyring]

Are they running at a faster loss too?

This actually matters. If eventually they'll be profitable, great, but if more users means more of a loss, they'll eventually run out of road.

Apple and Google and others have a luxury that they don't actually need to make money from their streaming services.

Apple could ditch it's cut of the 9.99 a month just to undercut Spotify and do quite well, if it really came to it.

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

I absolutely hate Spotify's focus on tracks and playlists. It always seemed so hard to just listen to a record on there. Never mind the fact that it seemed to continually post to Facebook even when I removed its permissions.

I never noticed these issues.
[doublepost=1462825998][/doublepost]

I had planned to leave Spotify last year but it is in fact the better system. AM for me has slightly better sound quality, but Spotify is worth it just for the Discover Weekly playlist and interface.

The music that AM shows me in the "For You" category is just a constant rehash of things I have already heard and it is never really presenting anything new to me. Spotify on the other hand has an uncanny way of finding something new or missed that I often really enjoy.

I am pretty happy this far with Spotify'd custom playlist for me.

 

[citysnaps]

"Spotify continues to operate at a loss..."

How long has Spotify been around - 7 or 8 years? I guess attracting subscribers is not too difficult if you're willing to lose money,.

 

[applesith]

It's proof that the streaming portion should have been a non-iTunes separate app. It's time to break up iTunes on the Mac into 5 apps, and if Music/iTunes Radio wants to survive, it has to at least be able to demonstrate what it does for people. It does a terrible job now BECAUSE it is integrated; the value prop is hidden for most people. In addition, it just gets people to listen to locally stored music. Then, they just want the stream, and off to Spotify Free they go. Then they get Spotify Premium, and say "Apple Music never did that". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Why would we need FIVE apps? Apple needs to improve the interface for iTunes, but it doesn't need to be fragmented into different apps.

 

[icehockey77]

I'm sure Rdio closing down helped them out as well.

 

[Rogifan]

I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. Were there that many people holding out on signing up for Spotify, Rdio etc. until they saw what Music was? I find that a little hard to believe.

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

The real issue here is how a company of Apple's caliber was satisfied with releasing such a subpar product as Apple Music in the face of numerous well established competitors. I honestly don't understand their managers other than perhaps underestimating how deluded they are about Apple's invulnerability and infallibility in the consumer market.

 

[dannyyankou]

I expect Apple's growth rate to go up after announcing the student discount.

 

[JPLC]

Interface wins!

So far for the Dre investment... Ruined the original iOS Music app and drove away early adapters back to Spotify with a terrible UI, Hiphip flavoured radio and useless functionality.

And where the hell did Lovine and his great vision go?!