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Spotify beats Apple Music in every possible area...bar one. And that is the sound. Switching from Spotify to Apple Music on my 2015 iMac is as though someone has lifted a heavy duvet off my speakers. It's several light years better. I can't go back to Spotify - even though I vastly prefer the experience. If Spotify caught up on sound quality, I'd ditch clunky Apple Music in a heartbeat.
Exactly the same experience for me. AM is a better listening experience, if not a better app experience.
 
The streaming industry is pricing themselves into oblivion while screwing artists, production and all that surround out of shared profits and or revenue. Music should never be rented with its availability and sound quality at the hands of greedy corporations tied to shady contracts. I hope the iTunes Music Store (and similar) live on forever.

The music streaming industry has homogenized music in general, made an already greedy and out of control business model worse, is instrumental in the live concert astronomical ticket pricing shift as this is now the only lucrative revenue stream for artists, and has eroded the album and new release experience as a whole.
 
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Exactly the same experience for me. AM is a better listening experience, if not a better app experience.
Actually, I do like the music videos and Apple Radio interviews. But the usability of the app is hugely inferior to Spotify.
 
Does Apple Music still change album art on your personal library?

I have a lot of compilation albums that have different album covers for each artist/song. When I trialed Apple Music it borked all of them, including other albums.
 
The free tier meets all my needs. Haven't really been listening my curated playlist either. Thats the thing, you pay for this thing and you don't even guarantee you will use it much. I like my good old iTunes library, I listen to my own collection when I want to or go to YouTube watch a few ads and listen to whatever I want.
 
Not being a dick here, but Spotify has never turned a profit. In 2022 it was a €236 million loss. Revenue was increasing each year, and loss was dropping, but the exchange rate means that 2023 has seen revenue drop.

Exactly.

I remember reading an article about Spotify's quarterly results a few years ago.

At the time they had $1.2 billion in revenue, which sounds good.

But their expenses were $1.4 billion!

Basically it costs Spotify money every time you play a song thanks to music licensing fees.

🤣
 
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When your only innovation appears to be testing the market elasticity of your price points.

You keep “innovating” until the thermocline is reached.
 
Spotify beats Apple Music in every possible area...bar one. And that is the sound. Switching from Spotify to Apple Music on my 2015 iMac is as though someone has lifted a heavy duvet off my speakers. It's several light years better. I can't go back to Spotify - even though I vastly prefer the experience. If Spotify caught up on sound quality, I'd ditch clunky Apple Music in a heartbeat.
Apple Music beats Spotify in more than just one way, such as: live lyrics and karaoke, uploading your own music with iTunes match and having it sync to all of your devices, edit your meta-data and have it sync to all devices, AirPlay 2 integration, classical music app (super major important aspect that nobody seems to mention on this site), a live radio station, better payouts for artists (super important), AND superior sound quality. And all of this is available at the single base price, no up-charges.

Fixed it for you.
 
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And when the dust settles from the outside pay options, they'll hike it again. Prices are only going to go up. Why I use the free version. They already don't pay artists adequately as it is. I'd use AM but they don't have a free option.
Exactly. People on this site seem convinced that developers doing things outside of the App Store will result in savings for us. Spotify just proved that is total bs.
 
lol remember when people complained about Apple being greedy for raising Apple Music prices?
 
I pay for Spotify using annual gift cards, which cost $99 (i.e. $8.25/month). Should probably get another card before they get more expensive.
 
I prefer Spotify - biggest advantage is cross device progression which is still not working on my three Apple devices (MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone) whereas with Spotify I can start wherever I have stopped.
 
Exactly.

I remember reading an article about Spotify's quarterly results a few years ago.

At the time they had $1.2 billion in revenue, which sounds good.

But their expenses were $1.4 billion!

Basically it costs Spotify money every time you play a song thanks to music licensing fees.

🤣
...and this is what I make from all streaming sources
s
Screenshot 2023-07-24 at 9.56.47 AM.png
 
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Exactly. People on this site seem convinced that developers doing things outside of the App Store will result in savings for us. Spotify just proved that is total bs.

Don't forget that companies usually raise their prices inside the App Store to cover Apple's 30% fee.

A product that costs $13 in the App Store could be had for only $10 on the web.

Yeah that price is cheaper outside the store... but that's actually its normal price.

The App Store price is simply increased by 30% to cover the fees.

So technically you can save money on certain products by going outside the store. YMMV :)

As for Spotify... this price increase has little to do with Apple or App Store policies. Spotify stopped allowing new customers to subscribe in the App Store seven years ago. And since then they've been telling the small percentage of customers who have App Store subscriptions to subscribe via the web instead.

Yeah... it sucks that Spotify is raising their prices... but welcome to 2023

:p
 
...and this is what I make from all streaming sources

screenshot-2023-07-24-at-9-56-47-am-png.2236628

We need more context.

I'm assuming you're the artist. Do you have agents, managers, a record label, etc? Does that affect your streaming income?

And I'm guessing that you'd make more than $2.69 if you sold 6,000 CDs. But I dunno.

I'm interested in hearing your story! Let us know!

:)
 
We need more context.

I'm assuming you're the artist. Do you have agents, managers, a record label, etc? Does that affect your streaming income?

And I'm guessing that you'd make more than $2.69 if you sold 6,000 CDs. But I dunno.

I'm interested in hearing your story! Let us know!

:)
That the raw (mechanical) earnings for a 100% self owned and released tracks that are streamed. Administered via Tunecore. Tunecore not taking a cut from the amounts I show, nor anyone else.

If a track was purchased 6000 times online id make about $7740. If a full album was purchased 6000 times, say at the rate I put one up on bandcamp, id make $30,000
 
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That the raw (mechanical) earnings for a 100% self owned and released tracks that are streamed. Administered via Tunecore. Tunecore not taking a cut from the amounts I show, nor anyone else.

If a track was purchased 6000 times online id make about $7740. If a full album was purchased 6000 times, say at the rate I put one up on bandcamp, id make $30,000

Wow thanks for the info! I've always heard that streaming pays a fraction of music in the old days... and this confirms it.

What do you think the solution is? People seem to love a flat-fee subscription to basically all-you can eat music.

But it's devastating to the artists.

I wish I had the answer.

:(
 


Spotify is increasing its Premium plan to $10.99 per month, up from $9.99, the company has announced. The price hike applies to users in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and several other regions and territories.

General-Spotify-Feature.jpg

"So that we can keep innovating, we are changing our Premium prices across a number of markets around the world," the company said in a post announcing the changes. "These updates will help us continue to deliver value to fans and artists on our platform."

In addition to increasing the Premium subscription price, the cost of the Duo plan is set to increase from $12.99 to $14.99, the Family plan will increase from $15.99 to $16.99, and the Student plan will increase from $4.99 to $5.99.

Spotify said existing subscribers in affected markets would receive an email explaining what this means for their account. Existing subscribers will get a one month grace period before the new pricing takes effect, according to a company FAQ.

The price increases aren't all that surprising given the recent subscription hikes of rival music streaming services. Apple Music prices increased in October, increasing for individuals by $1 a month to $10.99, or by $10 for the annual plan, which costs $109 a year. Apple Music for families also went up by $2 a month to $16.99. Apple raised the price of ‌Apple Music‌ due to increased licensing costs that provide more money to artists and songwriters, the company said at the time.

More recently, Amazon Music and YouTube Music Premium have also increased their prices, in both cases by adding $1 to their individual standard monthly subscription plans, which now stand at $10.99.

The Spotify price increases will be applied to the following countries: Andorra, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, Thailand, Türkiye, United States, Kosovo.

Article Link: Spotify Increases Premium Plan Price to $10.99 a Month
So funny. After 2 years of promises still no lossless:)
 
I don't use spotify due to how they treat their artists compared to other services.

Apple music just needs to work on its recommendations and it would be a beast but i prefer Apple music over spotify
 
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