Spotify Continues to Grow Faster Than Apple Music Thanks to Free Tier

[bobob]

Another FPP, another negative spin on Apple.

Despite nominally being a source of news for fans, MacRumors appears to be addicted to attracting trolls to generate page clicks. I'm sure it's good for their bottom line, but it has lead to a steady downhill slide in the quality of discussion in the forums.

 

[Abazigal]

A little bit of advertising money in my pocket > no money in my pocket and losing customers to a competitor

Except that the free tier is purportedly costing Spotify more than what it brings in. So if you had no intention in migrating over from the free tier to the paid tier ever, from a profit-maximising POV, Spotify is better off just dropping you as a customer rather than continue to subsidise your music-listening habits.

 

[Abazigal]

Another FPP, another negative spin on Apple.

Despite nominally being a source of news for fans, MacRumors appears to be addicted to attracting trolls to generate page clicks. I'm sure it's good for their bottom line, but it has lead to a steady downhill slide in the quality of discussion in the forums.

The issue isn't the articles. It's the inability of many of the posters here to engage in any sort of critical thinking and it shows in the quality of responses here.

 

[arkitect]

The issue isn't the articles. It's the inability of many of the posters here to engage in any sort of critical thinking and it shows in the quality of responses here.

Agreed.

I am inside the "Apple ecosystem" — computers, phones, iPads etc.
I use iCloud (but also Google Drive).
I have a ****@mac.com email address (but also a ****@gmail.com).

I use Spotify. For me it is a better service and I don't have to plough through endless recommendations of music that has zero appeal to me.

I don't hate Apple Music. I just prefer not to use it. It is not fit for my purpose.

If that makes me a troll, an "Apple Hater"… well then so be it. I just don't deal in absolutes. Too old for that malarkey.

 

[beanbaguk]

I've been using Spotify since the Alpha days. I remember when there were a dozen Scandinavian albums and it was just a case of playing around with the UI, laughing a bit at the music and then putting the app away.

These days Spotify is simply leagues ahead of anyone else in innovation, change and that fact they are totally cross-platform. I've got it on my smart TV, iPhone, BMW iDrive, iPad, Roku and more. It works just as well on each platform and carries over my music history, preferences and current listening habits seamlessly.

Then you have Apple Music. I signed up for the 3 month trial and instantly found it was missing music Spotify had. The interface (from when I tried it), was dreadful, and it had poor integration with my BMW iDrive which thought it was iTunes but then didn't really know how to play the music and as a result, frequently jammed. Then you only have it on Apple TV, but my God it was a serious chore to get it working and find the music you wanted to play. I ended up almost paying for music instead of playing it!

And because it was on Apple TV only, we didn't have it upstairs on our office / guest room Roku / Smart TV. Sure we could use our iPhones, draining our batteries but we found ourselves constantly switching back to Spotify.

I know Apple have made a lot of changes since to Apple Music and I'd be happy to give them another try, but they've got a long way to go before they can beat the likes of Spotify.

Short of the long. Music on a closed system doesn't work.

 

[whsbuss]

I've been using Spotify since the Alpha days. I remember when there were a dozen Scandinavian albums and it was just a case of playing around with the UI, laughing a bit at the music and then putting the app away.

These days Spotify is simply leagues ahead of anyone else in innovation, change and that fact they are totally cross-platform. I've got it on my smart TV, iPhone, BMW iDrive, iPad, Roku and more. It works just as well on each platform and carries over my music history, preferences and current listening habits seamlessly.

Then you have Apple Music. I signed up for the 3 month trial and instantly found it was missing music Spotify had. The interface (from when I tried it), was dreadful, and it had poor integration with my BMW iDrive which thought it was iTunes but then didn't really know how to play the music and as a result, frequently jammed. Then you only have it on Apple TV, but my God it was a serious chore to get it working and find the music you wanted to play. I ended up almost paying for music instead of playing it!

And because it was on Apple TV only, we didn't have it upstairs on our office / guest room Roku / Smart TV. Sure we could use our iPhones, draining our batteries but we found ourselves constantly switching back to Spotify.

I know Apple have made a lot of changes since to Apple Music and I'd be happy to give them another try, but they've got a long way to go before they can beat the likes of Spotify.

Short of the long. Music on a closed system doesn't work.

I respect your opinion, but your statement that "instantly found it was missing music Spotify had" is not my experience. I'm sure to depends on genre but that's been my experience with Apple Music.

 

[beanbaguk]

I respect your opinion, but your statement that "instantly found it was missing music Spotify had" is not my experience. I'm sure to depends on genre but that's been my experience with Apple Music.

Completely true, but in my case it was missing entire albums which to any person would be off-putting.

However, like I said; Apple Music has changed massively since then and I've got a newer BMW iDrive system so maybe it works better but what I have on Spotify is hard to beat. I can search for music, browse my playlists and pretty much find anything I want through my car interface.

If I had to chance to try Apple Music for free again, I'd definitely give it another shot but there have to be some seriously compelling reasons to switch over.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

I am an original iPod 2 owner and ripped my 170 cd collection that has since migrated over to my iPhone. I am disappointed in how the changed the iOS iTunes interface over the years emphasizing the streaming service and making it difficult to pick my own music. For streaming I have been using the streaming free Spotify service (the commercials are annoyingly repetitive but I tolerate them just like regular radio).

How is it difficult?

Make sure the Music (looks like a pair of musical notes) button is clicked on the left side, and "Library" is clicked at the center-top of the main window.

Perhaps you should take a peek at the Mac Tour of iTunes.

http://help.apple.com/itunes/mac/12.5/quick-tour/#/landing

 

[rhett7660]

Yeah it used to be much better. I don't remember when they transitioned to way more advertisements. 1.5, maybe 2 years ago? Probably when they realized the business was struggling hardcore. It's been a pretty annoying app experience since then. I jailbreak though so I have tweaks to get rid of the ads, and unlimited skips.

I can say I have cut way down on the amount of time I spend in the app. Between Plex and Amazon music, I am finding myself using it less and less. My car has a built in Pandora connection/tab on the stereo interface. This used to be really good. Easy connection etc. Now with the ads, I actually have to accept the ad and then it will play/connect.

I haven't jailbroke my phone in a very long time. Might be a reason to................ maybe

 

[mwhals]

You guys do realize that the free Spotify tier has commercials? That generates revenue for Spotify that you are not factoring into your analysis.

 

[huperniketes]

May also help that it doesnt suck.

I definitely prefer Spotify to Pandora, and Apple Music under the free trial.

 

[mdatwood]

I'm surprised Play Music doesn't get more mention. I still use my grandfathered $7.99 plan that also includes YouTube Red. Hard to beat that really.

 

[terrywfoster]

I don't use any service like this. I have enough MP3s to handle my listening needs. However, I do find this streaming music stuff interesting and how they go about grabbing customers.

 

[Tech198]

It's still what u like to listen to..... The only thing that help spotify now is the web based and the freedom to watch in a browser anywhere... That's all... Take that away, and i'm sure the numbers would even out.

Plus spotify has been in here longer.... Apple is growing, but it ain't a competition to see how much music one company can get over another. But it sounds like it.

 

[drewyboy]

I agree with Apple in not having a free tier with respect to paying artists, but otherwise it would be a great way to get people into Apple Music

I've got a bridge to sell you if you think apple does it out of the bottom of their heart and "respect" to artists.
[doublepost=1497624306][/doublepost]

Used Spotify for 2 weeks I literally couldn't had to go back to apple
Music

You must make some great reviews.

 

[corky5678]

I'd try Apple Music if it was free, but it isn't. :-(

You get 90 days free.
[doublepost=1497624543][/doublepost]What is a tier? And why are millions wanting it?

 

[epca12]

I've got a bridge to sell you if you think apple does it out of the bottom of their heart and "respect" to artists.
[doublepost=1497624306][/doublepost]

You must make some great reviews.

Then you won't be selling me a bridge, but maybe a couple of bricks. I do not believe that they have no respect for artists, nor do I think Spotify have absolutely no respect for artists.

 

[samden]

I have no problem being locked into iTunes and Apple because I would never use anything else. All the other hardware out there is garbage in my opinion.

It actual annoys me how all the Warner Bros and Sony pictures movies that come with digital copies only support ultraviolet and do not give the option for iTunes. I hate ultraviolet and never buy physical disc copies of those movies because of this. Disney's DMA system is actually the best solution I've found. You can register your DMA account with iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, etc, and it syncs your collection across.

I love Apple Music and it's deep integration with the hardware so I would never use Spotify or Tidal anyway.

"everything else is garbage" So that $150 Apple TV that can't play 4k content is less garbage than the $70 Chromecast that allows the streaming of 4k content? I'm guessing you haven't been outside of your Apple bubble in quite some time, you should try opening the door every once and a while and find out that while Apple products are solid, only a few items can even come close to being considered best.

"I hate ultraviolet and never buy physical disc copies of those movies because of this." I seriously have no words...

 

[jerryk]

Spotify is the reason iTunes was relegated to my unused folder.
[doublepost=1497629111][/doublepost]

Completely true, but in my case it was missing entire albums which to any person would be off-putting.

However, like I said; Apple Music has changed massively since then and I've got a newer BMW iDrive system so maybe it works better but what I have on Spotify is hard to beat. I can search for music, browse my playlists and pretty much find anything I want through my car interface.

If I had to chance to try Apple Music for free again, I'd definitely give it another shot but there have to be some seriously compelling reasons to switch over.

You learn something new every day. I am going to see if my iDrive has spotify. I have had spotify for years and the car is a 2016 with most of the options, but never knew there was an integration between the car and Spotify. Thanks!

 

[Michael Goff]

You guys do realize that the free Spotify tier has commercials? That generates revenue for Spotify that you are not factoring into your analysis.

Just less money than they spend on every single free user.

 

[smacrumon]

You get 90 days free.
[doublepost=1497624543][/doublepost]What is a tier? And why are millions wanting it?

No, many countries around the world, Apple is now charging as of last month, no free trials.

 

[WiseAJ]

"everything else is garbage" So that $150 Apple TV that can't play 4k content is less garbage than the $70 Chromecast that allows the streaming of 4k content? I'm guessing you haven't been outside of your Apple bubble in quite some time, you should try opening the door every once and a while and find out that while Apple products are solid, only a few items can even come close to being considered best.

"I hate ultraviolet and never buy physical disc copies of those movies because of this." I seriously have no words...

Majority of people don't have a 4K TV so they don't need 4K content at the moment. I'm sure future generations of the Apple TV will include it before it becomes more mainstream.

I like to stream the majority of my movies through my Apple TV so the lack of an iTunes compatible digital copy with movies is a deal breaker for me to buy a physical disc copy of it. If I feel I need to own a legal copy of a movie that is ultraviolet only I'll wait for the bargain sale on iTunes because I won't touch ultraviolet at all.

 

[truthertech]

You are right that music-streaming is getting commoditized, but that is explains why Spotify is prepared to giant losses in order to keep their users. I used Spotify for 6-7 years now and I have no intention to switch to another service since I have my playlist built up there, following people and artist I like etc, and $15 / month for 2 accounts is drop in the ocean.

I generate half of that monthly revenue, in a year 90$. With 50 million paying subscribers a price bump of 5% (50 cents/month/user) will generate them a 10% margin. When a service gets commoditized brand loyalty plays an important role, with majority of the users not interested in other options it is way more important to have a lot of users (even if some of them are non-paying) than being able to convert from competition.

CB, you're describing the opposite of a "commoditized" product. As a product/service becomes commoditized brand loyalty becomes increasingly less relevant and the primary, though not the sole, differentiator becomes price. To the extent that all of the major services offer essentially the same service, e.g., the ability to stream on demand and have playlists, consumers are going to choose largely based on price. The empirical evidence is that all of the services have matched the price cuts of the others. Thus, your scenario in which Spotify is able to "bump" prices up, is not going to happen. Rather, Spotify will have to continue to match price cuts and other freebies to try and hold on to its customers. Apple/Amazon/Google can all use music streaming as a "loss leader." Spotify is privately held and can't/won't suffer large losses indefinitelyhose investors are holding on to get their money out in an IPO or buyout.

Spotify, Amazon, Apple and Google all have had to match the $9.99 monthly charge for their premium streaming services. Since they are all charging the same, Apple offered family plan, student plan, etc., that the others have had to match and their is an equilibrium in which Spotify is losing large amount of money while its competitors are making huge amounts. Thus, there's no room for Spotify to raise prices to get out of this box.

[doublepost=1497634767][/doublepost]

And yet so many use it on a daily basis...... not bad for Spotify is doomed..... according to MR credible analysts reports, they have to be loosing billions daily...how do they keep operating?

You've got to separate your preferences from financial reality. They keep operating because they are privately held and the venture capitalists and other investors are desperate to hold on to make it to an IPO to try and get their money back, and hopefully more, or via a buyout. If they don't keep putting money in and/or taking out loans, the whole enterprise will collapse as they have no other source of revenue to make up for these huge losses. With a product that is rapidly becoming commoditized, they have no room to raise prices, only lower them to match competitors who can afford to lose money on streaming. Future is bleak for Spotify.

 

[melendezest]

But it isn't like you don't get a benefit for "repurchasing". The DRM-Free versions are encoded in iTunes Plus, which is twice the bitrate of the original DRM-ed tracks. And the "repurchase" isn't really a repurchase anymore.

Since iTunes Match began, Apple discontinued the "30 cents per track" upgrade from DRMed 128k AAC to Un-DRMed 256k AAC, in favor of the $24.95/yr iTunes Match subscription.

But wait! There's a (good) catch! Once you subscribe to iTunes Match and Apple "replaces" your old, broken DRMed copies of songs with brand new NON-DRMed 256k versions, you can then DOWNLOAD those Tracks to your LOCAL Library. Those songs are then YOURS TO KEEP, even if you drop your iTunes Match subscription!

So, instead of 30 cents per song, what Apple now offers is essentially a $25 FLAT FEE to convert ALL of your DRMed tracks. If you only have a few, better to just repurchase those tracks; but if you have a number of the old iTunes DRMed tracks, $25 to convert them all isn't so bad. And you can either keep using iTunes Match at $25/yr, or simply DROP it, and have your nice DRM-FREE, iTunes Plus-Encoded, versions.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2015/01/18/itunes-drm/21964513/

Yeah, except this doesn't work for the entire iTunes catalog. There are exceptions, as always, and the songs I own are it. Believe me. I tried to do this and failed.

 

[Vanilla35]

I haven't jailbroke my phone in a very long time. Might be a reason to................ maybe

I do it to get rid of ugly iOS 7 anyway, so the rest is just a bonus.