Jimmy Iovine Says Apple Music Would Have '400 Million' Listeners If It Had a Free Version Like Spotify

[ekwipt]

and an upcoming documentary with Harry Styles.

oh you got me there Apple, you got me there

 

[Uofmtiger]

A weak argument, imo. Spotify also has a paid plan and last time I checked it still had more subscribers than AM. What does a free plan have to do with it?

It could be argued that the advantage comes from several more years of being in the market and a free to premium route that gives people longer with the service before they make the transition. You can't blame that on Spotify, though.

Apple made the decision to not have a freemium service, so they hurt their own growth with that choice. It is like Spotify saying they would have a billion users if they had a popular phone with Spotify embedded in the OS. Neither really matters, though it would be easier for Apple to offer a freemium service than for Spotify to bring out a phone as popular as the iPhone. Personally, I think Apple should offer a freemium service and bury Spotify...which rarely ever makes a proft as it is...but for some reason they think a freemium service is beneath them.

 

[ovo6]

I feel like Apple Music is never gonna add a free membership cuz beats1 streams would go down

 

[Uofmtiger]

I feel like Apple Music is never gonna add a free membership cuz beats1 streams would go down

I think it is more of a statement about how they want to pay artists and whether albums have value over radio. Having a freemium service, as JI admits, would be much more popular than Beats1 and would attract a much larger group of people to the party. No, I think it is more of how they see music.

It should be noted that there was a study out a couple weeks ago showing Apple pays more per stream than Spotify. While I think it would be of huge benefit to Apple to have freemium, if their goal is to bury the competition, but it appears that they think it would hurt their image/branding.

 

[ovo6]

I think it is more of a statement about how they want to pay artists and whether albums have value over radio. Having a freemium service, as JI admits, would be much more popular than Beats1 and would attract a much larger group of people to the party. No, I think it is more of how they see music.

It should be noted that there was a study out a couple weeks ago showing Apple pays more per stream than Spotify. While I think it would be of huge benefit to Apple to have freemium, if their goal is to bury the competition, but it appears that they think it would hurt their image/branding.

Yea that to

 

[nope7308]

Art can't be made if you can't eat.

You don't need to make art to eat...

 

[Gav.Winters]

I feel like Apple Music is never gonna add a free membership cuz beats1 streams would go down

Do people still listen to that? I thought the idea was that we want music we like on demand, not Zane Lowe playing some obscure tracks no one cares about.

 

[R3k]

You don't need to make art to eat...

Plenty of precedents where an artist was able to excel cause they were able to put all their attention into a task. Dunno how Michelangelo would have gone if he also had to work 35 hours a week at Starbucks to pay his rent. Probably would end up spending his free time smoking bongs on the couch, caught up in the day to day grind.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Plenty of precedents where an artist was able to excel cause they were able to put all their attention into a task. Dunno how Michelangelo would have gone if he also had to work 35 hours a week at Starbucks to pay his rent. Probably would end up spending his free time smoking bongs on the couch, caught up in the day to day grind.

I think art will be around with or without a paycheck from the recording side of it. Before records, music artists made money from performances....they still do. That market will still be available to them if they don't make money from streaming. According to studies, Apple pays more for streaming per song than Spotify, Pandora and Google, so if you care about artists making money, they are apparently the best streaming option.

 

[mtneer]

I don't get what this guy is complaining about. Apple Music comes default installed on every g*ddamn iPhone out there. Apple Music starts playing by default every time I plug my phone into my car. Spotify and the others have to actually go out and win customers in the open marketplace to install their apps/ pay etc. How much more of a head start does this guy want? Looks like he is just making excuses for the tough questions TC and the board must be asking him. Iovine, where's the beef?

 

[Bacillus]

Looks like he is just making excuses for the tough questions TC and the board must be asking him.

Wish anybody would do so
(as it would shake out lt half of the Board's Doolittle-but-stare-at-iPhone-sales characters)