The momentum that Apple Music is gaining cannot be understated.
We know that Apple is getting into content distribution, including their own video streaming service and a paid news service. A larger Apple Music base would make it easer to push a content bundle onto their existing user base, further cementing Apple's grip on their ecosystem.
It's not hard to see how this becomes a virtuous cycle moving forward, with Apple Music helping to sell more Apple hardware, and Apple hardware helping to sell even more Apple Music subscriptions, all while Spotify is relegated to the outside peering in.
This also suggests that many of the narratives surrounding Spotify may not be as accurate as initially made out to be. I have always found it funny how critics like to focus on absolute market share in a vacuum (especially when it puts Apple in a negative light), without realising that when taken out of context, these numbers can be so easily manipulated to the point of being meaningless.
For example, Spotify may have more paid subscribers, but how many of them are subscribed to Spotify only because of some bundled deal? As such, they might not actually be actively using Spotify, much less graduating to the actual paid tier once the promotion expires.
This means that while Apple Music may have fewer subscribers on paper, their users would actually be more engaged on average, like when Drake registered more streams on Apple Music despite it having fewer subscribers than Spotify. That matters when negotiating for album exclusives or funding artistes to create original content.
Apple once ruled the music industry via iTunes. Might we one day see iTunes 2.0 where Apple once again owns the entire music industry by virtue of being the only sustainable music streaming service in the market?
The way I see it, Apple Music is only just getting started, and it can't be stopped. This is really Apple's game to lose.
We know that Apple is getting into content distribution, including their own video streaming service and a paid news service. A larger Apple Music base would make it easer to push a content bundle onto their existing user base, further cementing Apple's grip on their ecosystem.
It's not hard to see how this becomes a virtuous cycle moving forward, with Apple Music helping to sell more Apple hardware, and Apple hardware helping to sell even more Apple Music subscriptions, all while Spotify is relegated to the outside peering in.
This also suggests that many of the narratives surrounding Spotify may not be as accurate as initially made out to be. I have always found it funny how critics like to focus on absolute market share in a vacuum (especially when it puts Apple in a negative light), without realising that when taken out of context, these numbers can be so easily manipulated to the point of being meaningless.
For example, Spotify may have more paid subscribers, but how many of them are subscribed to Spotify only because of some bundled deal? As such, they might not actually be actively using Spotify, much less graduating to the actual paid tier once the promotion expires.
This means that while Apple Music may have fewer subscribers on paper, their users would actually be more engaged on average, like when Drake registered more streams on Apple Music despite it having fewer subscribers than Spotify. That matters when negotiating for album exclusives or funding artistes to create original content.
Apple once ruled the music industry via iTunes. Might we one day see iTunes 2.0 where Apple once again owns the entire music industry by virtue of being the only sustainable music streaming service in the market?
The way I see it, Apple Music is only just getting started, and it can't be stopped. This is really Apple's game to lose.
