Comparative Essay Between Apple Music and Spotify

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What about their music catalog? Apple appears to have the upper hand on this point, as they claim to have around 40 million songs (The all-new Apple Music), compared to Spotify’s “over 30 million” (“What is Spotify?”). Moreover, Apple offers its users the possibility to integrate their iTunes library into Apple Music. Users who have purchased music through iTunes over the years can have it incorporated into this app. While Spotify offers a similar function, it is hosted on a separate tab and is kept out of the global music searches in the app, unlike on Apple Music where it is seamlessly merged.

Social features is another aspect where these services differ. Spotify’s social feature allows users to follow their friends, see the playlists they have created and what music they listen to. Friends connected through Spotify can suggest music or playlists to each other, or decide to share their music history on Facebook. Even with the knowledge that we are living in the Social Media era, Apple has taken a different approach when it comes to social features. Their aim has not been to connect users among each other, but rather connecting the audience with their favorite artist. Through their Connect function, a user accesses content that each artist develops exclusively for Apple Music: backstage photos, new music previews or handwritten lyrics, which users can in turn comment on or share on other social media platforms. This feature was well received both by users and artists alike, as it provided another platform to connect.

In March of this year Spotify reached the 50-million-subscribers milestone (Spotify), while Apple holds little over half that number of paid subscribers. Despite Apple Music’s initial rapid growth, it has been unable to surpass its main competitor. Although both services appear to be very similar, Spotify seems to have understood their audience better and provide a service that is appreciated both by casual listeners for its freemium model, as well as for music enthusiasts for its ability to bring forward new music to be discovered.

Work Cited

Addady, Michal. "Apple Music Just Did in Six Months What Took Spotify Six Years". Fortune. Time Inc. January 11, 2016. Web. July 20, 2017.

Spotify Team. “15 for ’15!.” Spotify. December 1st, 2015. Web. July 20th 2017.

Spotify (Spotify). “Thank you to our 50 million subscribers. #Spotify50” March 2, 2017. Tweet.

The all-new Apple Music. Perf. James Corden. Apple, 2016. Youtube clip.

“What is Spotify?” Spotify. Spotify, March 2017. Web. July 20, 2017.