Apple Music Is the World's Second Most Popular Music Streaming Service Behind Spotify

[Jim Lahey]

Did Spotify ever fix the iOS bug where your used device storage space just got bigger and bigger each time you downloaded something, and never reflected the deletion of any music unless you dumped the app and reinstalled? I like Spotify but this was one of the reasons I quit using it some years ago.

 

[nwcs]

YouTube Music is on the list solely because it's tied into the ad-free experience. If they would de-couple the two then I bet the listenership would go way down.

 

[AJTC]

Is YouTube Music not a bit of a false contender because most people pay to get rid of the ads on videos and end up with YouTube Music as an unwanted extra? As soon as YouTube introduce a tier to pay to get rid of the ads only without the music subscription surely their users will drop off their music service.

 

[Abazigal]

Honestly, it's a pretty meaningless comparison. Apple no longer discloses subscriber numbers, and Spotify is relying on heavily discounted plans to grab users outside of the US (you have to wonder if Spotify is even earning any money off those). Rather, onlookers fixated on Apple Music vs Spotify seem to be overlooking the bigger danger ahead - namely that as Spotify pivots to ad-supported podcasts, they will run into increasing competition from Google and Facebook, and possibly from lower listening hours due to countries opening up (less time spent on the platform means less ad revenue overall).

I still think it's only a matter of time before Spotify eventually merges with either Netflix or Roku.

 

[elvislives]

For me Its about sound quality and Apple Music wins for me. ?

 

[HiVolt]

Still doesn't have a native separate Windows app. Being forced to use iTunes is ridiculous. Both Spotify & Amazon Music have a dedicated app.

 

[randomnut]

I’d like to use Apple Music but I don’t always know what I want to play. It seems Spotify is much better at playlists and providing me a varied list of stuff it thinks I’d want to listen to. If apple were better at that it would be good

 

[WWPD]

Tencent Music is a subsidiary of Spotify.

 

[Gherkin]

Spotify doesn’t deserve their number 1 spot. They have the lowest paying rates for artists, they do all sorts of shady things like create their own fake artists which they place in their top playlists , all to keep the revenues to themselves and avoid paying the miserable rates, and top it all now by investing $100 Millions in AI for military, « intelligent arms » And even brag about it because they know no one cares ( all while pretending they can’t pay the artists because they’re not making enough money. Meanwhile, Daniel Ek is worth 3.6 BILLIONS of dollars).
Ek and Spotify are considered the Darth Vader of the music tech industry.

Do a search if any of this sounds weird to you. Daniel Ek’s bots can downvote this to oblivion, but it had to be said.
Use better alternatives like Apple Music, Tidal,, Bandcamp, etc…

lol at the "rates for artists" argument. Championing Apple Music but saying Spotify is the devil is hilarious. They are both cut from the same cloth. Smaller touring bands (the ones most hurt from lost album sales) will see a negligible difference in payment for the same amount of streams. Damn Apple has done a great job in PR to pull the wool over the eyes of people like you for you to think they are some saint here.

 

[CrapShack]

Although I wil be the first to admit that Apple Music for Mac is inferior in the overall UI experience than good old iTunes, for serious collectors of music there is no substitute. One gets SO MUCH for $10/mo.

I have a Spotify account, it's fine for casual listening when I dont have access to my computer, but the things one can't do in Spotify (like changing meta data and creating automated genre-related playlists, which is very important to me) makes me appreciate just how thorough AMfM really is. I think the problem is that so few people know (or even care) about how deep the feature set is with iTunes/AMfM.

When I say "iTunes Match is the best thing anyone ever did for online music" the Blank Stare Rate is about 99.98%.

 

[Corsig]

I guess because plays lists aren’t too important to me it’s a coin toss who I would use. Apple Music is included with the bundle so it wins by default.

 

[wanha]

The only thing that is better on Spotify vs. Apple Music is the option to follow artists. It’s actually mind boggling that Apple Music doesn’t have this feature yet.

Until Apple adds that feature in I’m using Notes app to write in all my favorite artists.

This times 1000!

The absence of this TOTALLY OBVIOUS feature blows my mind.

 

[webkit]

Finally, Apple devices only have 20% market share worldwide. So to have half of Spotify's market share when Spotify are trying serve the whole market and not just iOS/macOS devices is kind of amazing.

Although Apple Music may primarily be used on Apple devices, it is not just limited to Apple devices.

 

[blizzerand]

Honestly, it's a pretty meaningless comparison. Apple no longer discloses subscriber numbers, and Spotify is relying on heavily discounted plans to grab users outside of the US (you have to wonder if Spotify is even earning any money off those). Rather, onlookers fixated on Apple Music vs Spotify seem to be overlooking the bigger danger ahead - namely that as Spotify pivots to ad-supported podcasts, they will run into increasing competition from Google and Facebook, and possibly from lower listening hours due to countries opening up (less time spent on the platform means less ad revenue overall).

I still think it's only a matter of time before Spotify eventually merges with either Netflix or Roku.

This is actually true for Apple Music too. Apple Music offers 6 months & 3 months free trial (I think I've gone almost a whole year on free trial without purchasing any new device) & I've seen Apple go up to 90% discounted plans to counter Spotify here in India.

 

[TechRemarker]

Apple Music is the one I want to use but it has the smallest selection when it comes to remixes, tv show performances, etc, and lot less power user features then spotify. YouTube Music has the best library by far for the type of music i want but lacks lots of ui features Spotify has. Doesnt even have live lyrics, gapless playback, api support for syncing with smart lights, not as good "for you playlists" as spotify. YT Music could easily catch up on those areas vs Spotify catching up library wise, but I'm not hopeful since Google is not the one to invest in rapidly improving their products unless they do very well but they dont do very well unless they improve it. So imagine someday they will simply shutter the service entirely unfortunately.

 

[webkit]

Does the chart/data represent just paid subscribers or is it showing all subscribers including free tiers?

While Apple Music does offer a cheaper "Voice" plan, it doesn't offer long-term free options like Spotify, YouTube Music, Deezer, etc.

 

[citysnaps]

I'm 100% pleased with Apple Music. At 27 cents per day it's an outstanding value and works very well with my HomePods or in my car.

Whether it's in 2nd, 1st, or whatever place is of no concern to me. Life goes on.

 

[Jim Lahey]

This times 1000!

The absence of this TOTALLY OBVIOUS feature blows my mind.

Sometimes it feels like Apple are so obsessed with innovating new and not especially great features that they omit or permanently break existing and ubiquitous staples that any reasonably minded person in a world of multi-trillion dollar tech firms would expect to take for granted. Safari sidebar being the most recent example. It’s a joke.

 

[ericwn]

Apple Music's content is SURELY only for english speaking countries. There're absolutly only english songs on the service.

I have listened to some German content on my account though so I doubt the accuracy of your statement.

 

[ginkobiloba]

lol at the "rates for artists" argument. Championing Apple Music but saying Spotify is the devil is hilarious. They are both cut from the same cloth. Smaller touring bands (the ones most hurt from lost album sales) will see a negligible difference in payment for the same amount of streams. Damn Apple has done a great job in PR to pull the wool over the eyes of people like you for you to think they are some saint here.

I’m a musician. I’m independent , i distribute my music directly to all stores and streaming platforms, and I have the numbers and the rates at the end of the month in front of my eyes. So do all musicians. So, unlike you, i know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

 

[blizzerand]

I’m a musician. I’m independent , i distribute my music directly to all stores and streaming platforms, and I have the numbers and the rates at the end of the month in front of my eyes. So do all musicians. So, unlike you, i know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Can you share the numbers if that's okay to ask. How many streams from different platforms and the percentage of revenue from it? Genuinely curious.

 

[japanime]

So I have used both for a very long time and I think if you used apple music a couple years ago, this is true. But, in my opinion, it is very false now. AM has released a lot of indie playlists over the past couple years. Some of my favorites are Rise and Grind (pop punk) and Metalcore (its in the name) and these are updated regularly.

Just gave you a thumbs-up for mentioning the Rise and Grind playlist. I wasn't familiar with it before, but it's just the sort of thing I've been looking for on AM. Thanks!

 

[ericwn]

We'll win this war against Spotify. As soon as an individual immerses themselves in Apple Music, its uniquely curated experience is found to be unbeatable.

We? LOL

There’s plenty to improve on the service and hardly anything unbeatable.

 

[Station Grey]

For me Its about sound quality and Apple Music wins for me. ?

Compared to what though? Spotify has never had a high-quality option, but Deezer has had the option of CD-quality lossless for years now.

 

[ginkobiloba]

Can you share the numbers if that's okay to ask. How many streams from different platforms and the percentage of revenue from it? Genuinely curious.

I won't share my personal numbers, but here's spme reading. Also, if you go on Twitter and do a search, the word most associated with Spotify by musicians is F##k
All streaming platforms suck for artists. But Spitify is the only one that out of its way and deploy enourmous effort to convince artists that they should see Spotify as "promo" and not as a source of revenue, create fake artists to bypass real artists , etc..

here's some reading :

Why Spotify’s fake artists problem is an Epidemic. Literally. - Music Business Worldwide

The tall tale of three Swedish companies, with their own economic interests…

www.musicbusinessworldwide.com

https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/fe...w-playing-the-service-at-its-own-game-834746/
https://www.nme.com/news/music/new-...ams-artists-need-to-earn-minimum-wage-2649715
https://5mag.net/i-o/spotify-pay-per-click/
https://thetrichordist.com
https://www.nme.com/news/music/radioheads-thom-yorke-shares-spotify-concerns-2196648

Spotify’s investment striptease is an ugly necessity - but an insult to artists - Music Business Worldwide

Spotify goes all out to attract investors in new $500m round – but what about musicians?

www.musicbusinessworldwide.com

Artists criticise Spotify CEO Daniel Ek's investment in AI defence tech

Ek made the announcement earlier this month

www.nme.com

Musicians Are Dragging Spotify’s CEO For Funding A Military AI Company

Daniel Ek's $113 million investment in Helsing AI has drawn ire from some artists, who criticize the streaming platform for underpaying musicians.

www.vice.com

it seems the ultimate goal of Spitify is to get rid entirely of artists and replace them by AI generated fake artists :

Why Did Spotify Hire This Expert In Music-Making AI?

As “fake artists” rack up millions of Spotify plays, the company’s new AI lab–intended to help artists–has raised the specter of songs written by robots.

www.fastcompany.com