Apple Music Reportedly Surpasses Spotify Subscriber Count in the U.S.

[Fiachers]

People who actually think Apple Music is better than Spotify must have some sort of weird mental problem. Just the worst, most jumbled, confusing, poorly designed streaming service I've ever used.

They should split Music for iOS into iPod (for Mac synced/purchased content) and Music (for Apple Music), at the very least. I HATE how I can't even make a playlist when I have an Apple Music subscription without it forcing me to turn on iCloud Music. Leave my main music library the hell alone. Stay in your own app. Because of this, among others, (stupid font sizes, horrific search [I couldn't even find Eminem without scrolling through a ton of small artists in the search results]). Apple Music will always and forever be an absolute no for me.

 

[DevNull0]

People who actually think Apple Music is better than Spotify must have some sort of weird mental problem. Just the worst, most jumbled, confusing, poorly designed streaming service I've ever used.

I've never used Apple music so I'm not comparing the two. I use spotify free on occasion, and a couple of times I've used their 3 months for $10 promos. A couple of years ago, they redid their App and completely destroyed it's usability. It's now a total convoluted mess and virtually impossible to use. And since then, the last few updates just get worse and worse. It is utter garbage. Completely unusable even if they gave premium away for free.
[doublepost=1530901768][/doublepost]

It would be nice if there were some aggregator subscription that allowed you to access music from the various services.

Bittorrent?

I'm really not one to advocate piracy, but nobody is going to subscribe to a second service just to get the few exclusives on that platform they're interested it. It's horribly hostile to the consumers and perhaps if the artists and labels lose sales (and more importantly chart ranking) when they sign exclusive deals, it may help put an end to the practice.

Personally though, I have little interest in streaming. My preferred way to get music is to buy and rip the CDs, and I also don't mind buying tracks on the iTunes store, so exclusives aren't really an issue for me (at least as long as I can still get my CDs). But if I did use a streaming service, I'd pirate the exclusives in a heartbeat.

 

[Exxhara]

People who actually think Apple Music is better than Spotify must have some sort of weird mental problem. Just the worst, most jumbled, confusing, poorly designed streaming service I've ever used.

They should split Music for iOS into iPod (for Mac synced/purchased content) and Music (for Apple Music), at the very least. I HATE how I can't even make a playlist when I have an Apple Music subscription without it forcing me to turn on iCloud Music. Leave my main music library the hell alone. Stay in your own app. Because of this, among others, (stupid font sizes, horrific search [I couldn't even find Eminem without scrolling through a ton of small artists in the search results]). Apple Music will always and forever be an absolute no for me.

I actually think Apple Music is better than Spotify and i'm not mental. You don't have to turn on iCloud Music it's just a prompt when you first set it up so that you can have access to all your music on all devices at any time. You can turn off the iCloud prompt in settings. The font size we can't fix unfortunately (but it's just a font) but I don't get why you're having search problems unless you typed the artist wrong and they give you the closest result based on your search. Also, when you search, go to the artist profile on the search results viewed first and you'll get all the music. I do think that people have different experiences because each person's user errors and knowledge of the app. I know my way around the app so I've never had any issues.

 

[MrXiro]

He did, in this case I agree. I'll admit by default it promotes the most popular stuff that those of us with different tastes might not like - but if you carefully choose which genres/artists you like and especially of you continually engange with love/dislike tracks you come across the custom playlists it offers are better.

Plus I prefer to pay than having a "free" advertising sponsored tier.

You do realize Spotify has a paid tier AND a free tier right? What does it hurt for anyone else to use the free tier if you use the paid tier? I have a family plan on Spotify and I love it. Not a big fan of Apple Music and I like the Spotify interface.

 

[applefanboy4]

You do realize Spotify has a paid tier AND a free tier right? What does it hurt for anyone else to use the free tier if you use the paid tier? I have a family plan on Spotify and I love it. Not a big fan of Apple Music and I like the Spotify interface.

It doesnt hurt anyone, but those people who are on free tier arent all in. They arent willing to pay for music like AM users are, people who fully support music.

Spotify only has more users worldwide because of this. People go on free tier on spotify, thats the majority of their base. Thats their core.

But that doesnt translate into anything. If your base is millions of people who arent paying into your service and your company is made up of majority of people who arent even paying money for your app or service, well, quite frankly your business is screwed.
[doublepost=1530903207][/doublepost]Why would someone, in 2018, be on a service that is old and outdated and dusty? Microsoft and Spotify and Androids are boring, old and outdated.

I dont want to buy into services that are outdated. AM is the future. This isnt 1997 when Windows was dope and stuff.

I want a service, thats the wave of the future, and anyone saying that its android and Spotify is out of their damn minds

 

[kahkityoong]

Or maybe just different friends than you? All my friends use Spotify as well, and I have a goodly number of them, thanks.

In this case I will call BS as well.

 

[Remy149]

Please enlighten us on a few ways that it is better. I've found Spotify way better to discover new music, it's multiplatform and has a better look and feel, although that's personal.

If your like myself and only use Apple products why wouldn’t you want the service that’s baked into your devices on a system level

 

[atoqir]

I have both Apple Music and Spotify because of the 0,99 euro for 3 months promo.

I love to use Apple Music with my own library on my iPhoneX and iPad. It is awesome to use on the go.

But when I am at work and use my Windows PC or game on my Windows PC or PlayStation4 I must use Spotify. iTunes is horrrrrrrrrrible software. It works slow and the UI is terrible. I don’t understand they do not have a webplayer, although looking at iCloud.com it will probably be another slow form over function webapp.

It is a shame that a very good service gets buried in a terrible dated bloated sofware experience on other platforms.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I'll give you an opportunity to think and research before commenting. And, a bonus if you can provide unique download stats for Spotify and Apple Music on Apple App Store.

No sir. Apple says it’s 50M subscribers. Apple is a publicly traded company, and you are accusing the CEO of cheating the investors, which is a crime. It’s up to you to reliably show that the numbers are cooked. Google play is not good enough.

 

[wubsylol]

I’ve tried Apple Music multiple times but I just can’t seem to enjoy it. I much prefer Spotify’s interface. Each to their own, though, people look for different things in a service and one person enjoying something doesn’t make it objectively better than the competition.

 

[ignatius345]

In this case I will call BS as well.

Hahaha, ok dude.

 

[Dahl]

Steve said people want to own their own music, not rent it. I agree with Steve.

They don't. One point where Steve was very wrong.

The modern music consumer does not buy music anymore. If you can make a subscription service out of it, it will happen and people will go for it. TV, film, music, software etc.

 

[dhoughal]

I tried to use Apple Music, but it won't let me manually sort my playlists. In theory, there is this Edit function in every playlist, but in reality it won't work on iOS, at least for me.

 

[dlim1027]

Spotify doesn't have Dr. Dre's The Chronic. End of debate.

 

[MrXiro]

It doesnt hurt anyone, but those people who are on free tier arent all in. They arent willing to pay for music like AM users are, people who fully support music.

Spotify only has more users worldwide because of this. People go on free tier on spotify, thats the majority of their base. Thats their core.

But that doesnt translate into anything. If your base is millions of people who arent paying into your service and your company is made up of majority of people who arent even paying money for your app or service, well, quite frankly your business is screwed.
[doublepost=1530903207][/doublepost]Why would someone, in 2018, be on a service that is old and outdated and dusty? Microsoft and Spotify and Androids are boring, old and outdated.

I dont want to buy into services that are outdated. AM is the future. This isnt 1997 when Windows was dope and stuff.

I want a service, thats the wave of the future, and anyone saying that its android and Spotify is out of their damn minds

I'm sorry... this is the type of holier than though attitude that makes people hate Apple users. Not everyone can afford the $10 month to "support musicians". Some really couldn't care less if the musicians make money or not. That's the truth you need to live with.

I personally prefer Spotify (as I stated I pay) because they're willing to put an app on everything. They're like Netflix. Nearly all my devices have Spotify built in or I can install it. I can tell any of my Alexa devices to to play Spotify whenever I want, or my Yamaha receiver. I can just send it to the receiver whenever I want. Apple's walled garden in this case completely dissuades me from jumping over to Apple Music. I'm not paying $350 for a tiny speaker in a tube when I have a 800 watt beast in my house not to mention still be able to play it on my computer.

Free tier on iPad also works like it does on a PC so you don't have to listen to all shuffle either.

At the end of the day they both can exist. But dial down your attitude bud. You're not better than anyone else on this board.

 

[DevNull0]

Why would someone, in 2018, be on a service that is old and outdated and dusty? Microsoft and Spotify and Androids are boring, old and outdated.

Well, your username checks out.

It's only your information that's out of date, but I won't try to convince you, the only person suffering from your misinformation is you. Before you whip yourself into a frenzy though, please understand that saying that MS, Spotify, and Android are all quite modern in 2018 is no way an attack on Apple.

 

[chrisbru]

I call B.S. I’ve never met an actual person in the real world who uses Apple Music instead of Spotify.
[doublepost=1530876265][/doublepost]

Spotify has a great iPad interface.

Spotify is also widely known to have the most complete music library.

And, once again, I call B.S. I’ve never met an actual person in the real world who uses Apple Music instead of Spotify.

Why do you feel your limited social circle is more representative than the actual data presented in this article and others like it? Just because you don't know anyone that uses Apple Music doesn't mean the data is wrong.

 

[mi7chy]

I'm sorry... this is the type of holier than though attitude that makes people hate Apple users. Not everyone can afford the $10 month to "support musicians". Some really couldn't care less if the musicians make money or not. That's the truth you need to live with.

Many can afford the $10 but don't see the point of paying since they grew up with free ad supported radio. Music streaming like radio is so 1979. They'd rather spend it towards modern YouTube Premium/Music.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Every time these "Apple Music is superior" fake news bits come out, it's the same thing--Apple Music subscribers try to poke all sorts of holes in and cast their death wish on Spotify (why it matters to them since they choose to pay for AM, I'm not sure) and Spotify users (both subscribers and the "free-use" base) tell why Apple Music and iTunes sucks.

Personally, I thank God I have a choice. If people want only one music service to exist, then we're in real trouble.

Or we could go back to paying $1.29 for every song you'd ever want to listen to...

 

[jicon]

I took a one month trial of Apple Music about a week ago. Yesterday and today, I'm ready to just use Spotify. I have an older Macbook Pro 2009, which I loaded both an SSD and original 7200RPM drive in. SSD had El Capitan, RPM drive had Mavericks. SSD took a nosedive yesterday. Machine no longer recognizes a drive is connected. Spent the evening getting Mavericks upgraded to El Capitan, downloaded iTunes 12.7.5.

If I am on the main pages of Apple Music, and hit play on a playlist.. it plays. Click on a playlist, it shows the playlist graphic, and a brief description, along with the play button, but no music plays when I try, AND the most frustrating part, no idea what is in the playlist. The text that should appear to the right of the playlist is blank.

Oh, it gets better.
I see albums on Apple Music. Click play on an album, it plays. Click on an album 'An error has occurred'

Seems to work fine on my iPhone and iPad running iOS12 beta, but whatever it is about running on an old drive, timing? Not sure what, but something is goofy with the web page display in iTunes, and beyond frustrating.

Any suggestions out there?

 

[MauiPa]

Please enlighten us on a few ways that it is better. I've found Spotify way better to discover new music, it's multiplatform and has a better look and feel, although that's personal.

Just curious what you mean by multi-platform. Apple Music plays on Mac, iOS, AppleTV, HomePod,, Apple Watch, Windows, Android. That sounds multi-platform to me. Never checked ubuntu, or red-hat. Is that hat you mean?

better look and feel? that is a matter of opinion only as you state, and I don't share yours, in fact I believe Apple Music is way better on look and feel. Spotify is too "windowsy".

Oh and Apple Music has 10,000,000 more songs to discover.

But each to their own.

 

[applefanboy4]

Well, your username checks out.

It's only your information that's out of date, but I won't try to convince you, the only person suffering from your misinformation is you. Before you whip yourself into a frenzy though, please understand that saying that MS, Spotify, and Android are all quite modern in 2018 is no way an attack on Apple.

The majority of Spotify users are Android users. Im sorry. If you come home with a shiny new Samsung Galaxy 9 vs coming home with an IphoneX. No question which one is more incredible and amazing.

spotify is outdated just like android is. Its what people who use Androids use. I dont want plastic phones made on the cheap. I want works of art, handcrafted with love. Only Apple provides that.

Lenovo is cheap because its cheap. Apple fans pay top dollar because they want the high quality product that is well made.
[doublepost=1530909851][/doublepost]

I'm sorry... this is the type of holier than though attitude that makes people hate Apple users. Not everyone can afford the $10 month to "support musicians". Some really couldn't care less if the musicians make money or not. That's the truth you need to live with.

I personally prefer Spotify (as I stated I pay) because they're willing to put an app on everything. They're like Netflix. Nearly all my devices that have Spotify built in. I can tell any of my Alexa devices to to play Spotify whenever I want, or my Yamaha receiver. I can just send it to the receiver whenever I want. Apple's walled garden in this case completely dissuades me from jumping over to Apple Music. I'm not paying $350 for a tiny speaker in a tube when I have a 800 watt beast in my house not to mention still be able to play it on my computer.

Free tier on iPad also works like it does on a PC so you don't have to listen to all shuffle either.

At the end of the day they both can exist. But dial down your attitude bud. You're not better than anyone else on this board.

Im not bagging on people who cant afford it, people can spend their money however they choose. What we are talking about is however, people who choose not to spend money on something. Their support isnt rabid. Its malleable, and can be easily swayed. Im locked into AM, I pay the money for it, just like I pay for the other devices. Spotify as a company isnt a long term thing because the majority of their users dont pay a damn thing. Pretty hard to be a long term valuable company in that climate. Apple is different because it not only, ONLY offers paid subscriptions but it also is a trillion dollar company the most valuable company in the world. Spotify cant win this because of that. Spotify has no money to offer.

The backbone of Spotify is free user base, people who pay not one damn cent to the company.

Thats not support. It just isnt. How can you be a rabid supporter of something that you pay zero dollars toward? Thus what I said. Spotify support isnt rabid, its tentative and basic.

 

[Chloros]

It was bound to happen.

Apple Music is better than Spotify in every way.

Spotify was busy trying to gain costumers at all costs and relying on inertia (e.g. libraries you can’t export) to keep them in their service.

Ignorance is bliss

 

[selfoss]

I never really had any issues with the 'For You' playlist. maybe one or twice it recommended me some music i never listened or would listen to, usually I discover quite a lot of great stuff to be honest. I only wish Connect wasn't so dead.

 

[DanGoh]

Personally prefer Spotify because I find the app to have been better than the Apple music app for years now, Spotify has better playlists and discovery algorithms, and because I like to keep my big local iTunes music collection separate from the music I don't own.