Apple Music could supersede Spotify this summer in the U.S. given both the services keep growing at the current pace, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. In the U.S., Apple Music is growing at the rate of 5% per month against Spotify’s 2%.
Apple Music vs. Spotify
Globally, Spotify still claims a big lead with over 70 million paid subscribers, and a good number of free listeners. The Cupertino, California-based company told the WSJ that its music streaming service has 36 million subscribers in total. It must be noted that Spotify is present in over 61 markets compared to 115 for Apple, while Apple Music launched four years after Spotify’s 2011 U.S. debut.
“Apple’s subscriber-account base in the U.S. has been growing about 5% monthly, versus Spotify’s 2% clip, according to the people familiar with the numbers. Assuming those growth rates continue, Apple will overtake Spotify in accounts this summer,” the WSJ notes.
Getting the exact number of listeners for the music streaming services is a challenging task for the simple reason that they have unique ways to define their total number of audience size. For instance, both the popular services take each user in the family plan into consideration to boost their numbers, instead of counting one family plan as a single subscriber.
Also, some subscribers may have access to a music service through a bundle deal with their mobile carriers, or under a package deal that offers access to other streaming services such as Hulu, notes WSJ.
In fact, Apple leads the market, if those under the free trial are also included. Numbers reveal that Apple has approximately three to four times the trial users compared to Spotify. Since Apple does not offer a free ad-based tier, a trial user should either pay or cancel once the trial period is over.
Growing competition in music streaming space
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple Music has witnessed significant growth on the back of its consumer devices. And once the HomePod hits the market, Apple’s music streaming service would get a further boost.
In addition, Apple won access to content from top DJ’s in the world – Steve Aoki, Sigala and DJ Suss One. Apart from the batch of mixes, Apple Music will offer exclusive sets by Aoki, Sigala and DJ Suss One. Aoki’s track is an hour and 40 minute long exposition of works created with artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty & Migos, Gucci Mane and Fall Out Boy, among others. Similarly, DJ Suss One’s 45-minute offering is a tribute to classic hip-hop.
On the other hand, as the music streaming space has gotten more challenging, Spotify has announced a new app called “Stations.” The new app, which is still in the testing phase, would enable users to pick from the curated music stations, something similar to Pandora.
“When you have access to all the music in the world, finding the right thing to play can feel like a challenge. With Stations, you can listen immediately, and switching stations is simple and seamless—no searching or typing needed,” the app description reads.
