WSJ: Apple Music Has Overtaken Spotify in U.S. Paid Subscribers

DotCom2 said:
EXACTLY!
One can make numbers mean anything. This is US only...NOT world wide.
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Who said it was worldwide?

FTA: “Apple Music has surpassed Spotify's paid subscriber count in the United States”

The numbers mean what they say: Apple has 28 million paid US subscribers, but Spotify only has 26 million.

If you want the worldwide numbers: Spotify has 96 million, Apple has at least 50 million.
 
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DNichter said:
Yea I still think that Spotify is better when it comes to suggestions for the type of music I like, but I really prefer native integration with my existing music library.
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Yep, thats the biggest thing Apple has going for it over Spotify. Native Integration with the system and the thousands of songs I've collected over the years.
 
Baymowe335 said:
Anyone else want to comment Apple Music can’t compete with Spotify?
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It can’t. The US market is only a fraction of the market, and Spotify has also a free service with tons of subscribers. Apple Music has only a small fraction of the total Spotify users and it will be like that for the foreseeable future, unless they also introduce a free tier.
 
jonnyb098 said:
When Spotify makes a phone they can do the same thing. Also Spotify is constantly on the front page of the App store under "Top Paid Apps"
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It's not quite that simple. Spotify is the top 3rd party music-only app on the app store (YouTube is higher, but not many get YouTube just for streaming music). Yet if you search the app store for "music" you get:

Apple Music
iTunes Store
Apple Music (again)
GarageBand
iTunes Remote
Music Memos
Logic Remote
Clips
iMovie
Musi
Spotify
SoundCloud
YouTube Music
Offline Music Player
Pandora

Do you honestly think Spotify shouldn't be higher in that list for a search of the term music? Or honestly, that YouTube Music and Pandora aren't higher also? If you do, then I guess we disagree.

Also, USA and European laws/regulations have a strong precedent that platform makers can't use the fact that they're the platform maker to unfairly promote their other products at the expense of others. Think Google search, Microsoft with IE, etc. Apple would be wise to heed prior examples. I suspect the Spotify complaint is going to get traction within the EU and Apple may be facing some hefty fines similar to what Google has been dealing with the past few years.
 
WalterTizzano said:
It can’t. The US market is only a fraction of the market, and Spotify has also a free service with tons of subscribers. Apple Music has only a small fraction of the total Spotify users and it will be like that for the foreseeable future, unless they also introduce a free tier.
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I am not sure. Apple will continue to grow and make necessary changes to compete outside of the US. Spotify doesn't make any money, partly due to that free service. They may not be able to last, and this certainly hurts them as well.
 
WalterTizzano said:
It can’t. The US market is only a fraction of the market, and Spotify has also a free service with tons of subscribers. Apple Music has only a small fraction of the total Spotify users and it will be like that for the foreseeable future, unless they also introduce a free tier.
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It’s the biggest and most important music market in the world, to be the biggest in the US is extremely valuable and important.
To call it a fraction tells me you don’t know much about the music industry :)
 
When apple stops billing my family’s App Store purchases to MY credit card for the family APPLE MUSIC subscription then I’ll switch. Until then, Apple can screw off.

I stick with Spotify for this sole reason.
 
PickUrPoison said:
Who said it was worldwide?

FTA: “Apple Music has surpassed Spotify's paid subscriber count in the United States”

The numbers mean what they say: Apple has 28 million paid US subscribers, but Spotify only has 26 million.

If you want the worldwide numbers: Spotify has 96 million, Apple has at least 50 million.
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I was just clarifying, Sir/Madam.
 
FSMBP said:
Don't care what anyone says...When iPhones come with Apple Music preloaded, and the Music app/iTunes bombards you with Apple Music ads, it isn't a level playing ground.

Even diehard Apple fans shouldn't be happy - fair competition is good for consumers.
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Totally agreed. Companies advertising their products is a wicked, vile, act deserving of the harshest condemnation.
 
Naraxus said:
At least with Spotify I get a service that knows there’s more to music than Rap & Hiphop....
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That is very annoying. Or building a playlist of music. And only including a couple of artists in it. As if to say they are pushing you to listen to them over everyone else.
 
What I felt to be somewhat annoying was when I was on Apple Music's free trial, just to test the service, it would at times choose to play it over Spotify in the car.
 
FSMBP said:
Don't care what anyone says...When iPhones come with Apple Music preloaded, and the Music app/iTunes bombards you with Apple Music ads, it isn't a level playing ground.

Even diehard Apple fans shouldn't be happy - fair competition is good for consumers.
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This sounds like the situation with Microsoft and preinstalling IE who were found guilty of unfair practises by the EU a decade or so ago.

Don’t use either AppleMusic or Spotify, no skin in this game.
 
willyx said:
Predatory iOs/App Store practices might have a lot to do with his. iOS devices are a huge selling channel and Apple has a lot of mechanism to bully every app they want to compete with until they kill this sales channel for them. They are begging to be investigated for monopolistic practices, as certain Senator has pointed out.
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Is your argument really that iPhone owners are too stupid to choose what works for them? How is Apple bullying any app developer except to follow the T&C? Maybe to you it’s ok for large developers to make millions of dollars off selling on the App Store for free, with that logic all advertising should be free, and free leases in shopping malls.
 
jkelly03 said:
Do you think the addition of Apple Music to some Verizon subscribers affects these numbers?
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Maybe. However, companies have been giving Spotify subscriptions away for years now on just about any electronic device you buy. I think I even got a Spotify sub when I bought my toaster.
 
I’m curious how Apple Music would be doing if it was a separate app that needed to be downloaded from the App Store versus the default music app on every iOS device. Power of defaults is strong.
 
Apple music has steadily improved since launch. I returned for my 4th time since it came out and it's finally worth it. I'm discovering a ton of new music, the playlists have gotten much much better. To the point that I'm finding better playlists on apple music than on spotify. Apple music is getting better about recommending music that better suits me.

And in that rare case where spotify has a better playlist of something I just use songshift to move that playlist from free spotify over to apple music.
 
I’m always going to support Spotify more while it serves me better.

I recognize that Apple Music works better with Siri, has better integration with local files, and pays artists more fairly. However, the user interface, discoverability of new music, playlists, music sharing, and cross-integration with other devices is much better on Spotify imo. Not to mention, I get free Hulu and Showtime included as a student for only $5/mo.
 
macfacts said:
Fake news. It was one guy from rolling Stones saying that. And it was only an estimate.
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Here is the breakdown. Apple does pay artists more than Spotify. Napster (surprisingly) pays the most. I didn't even know they still had a service.

Streaming-Music-Payouts-2-1.png
 
FSMBP said:
Don't care what anyone says...When iPhones come with Apple Music preloaded, and the Music app/iTunes bombards you with Apple Music ads, it isn't a level playing ground.

Even diehard Apple fans shouldn't be happy - fair competition is good for consumers.
Click to expand...

Who says spotify is entitled to a level playing ground?

Why is this competition not "fair?" Nobody is stopping spotify from building their own phone with its own app store and own built-in apps.
 
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