AppleInsider Staff
Swedish music streamer Spotify has more to lose from Apple's anticipated Beats Music revamp than its competition, according to new usage data, as iOS accounts for a majority of Spotify's active users.
Nearly 11 percent of iOS device owners in the U.S. use Spotify on a weekly basis, data published by The Information shows. On Android, that number falls to just 7 percent.
The disparity "reflects the reality that Apple users have more money to spend on a subscription service," the publication noted. In contrast, Android ruled the roost for Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and Pandora.
Beats Music is by far the smallest streaming service for now, seeing use on less than one percent of devices, no matter the platform. That is expected to change — primarily at Spotify's expense — once Apple unveils the new version, which will likely be tied more closely to iOS, much like iTunes Radio.
Many believe that the revamped service will bow at Apple's upcoming developers conference next month, but that may not be the case. A report earlier Tuesday suggested that the company was having difficulty securing the necessary licenses, though sources did concede that there is still time for Apple to strike the deals.
"If any company can pull it off, [Apple] can," according to one insider.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
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21 Comments
IMO, Spotify's UI sucks and is incredibly hard to navigate without explicit attention on iPhone.
While it might be dated, the Music App is super easy to navigation and after a decade of using it, I can fine tweak Smart Playlists and Genius to make my iTunes library enjoyable and not lose tracks to time, a problem I often have with Spotify.
The moment Apple relaunches Beats, I will be jumping ship. If it's heavily and well integrated into iTunes and Music.app (which 8.4 looks like it is prepping for), I will be throwing my money at them.
Beats would have to do something amazing to make me swap from Spotify. For me, Spotify wins for the same reason that Netflix wins - ubiquity. I can get Spotify on [i]all[/i] of my devices, whether they're Apple-branded or not (e.g. Sonos).
I'm not sure I agree with this. Apple will have to provide a compelling reason to switch. I currently use Spotify and have no plans to switch to Apple's offering unless it's much better than anything they currently offer.
I've tried Beats Music and I could easily jump from Spotify, once the relaunch happens.
Looking forward to it.
It took 1 Viking to steel the music crown???? It will not be easy to get that back. Look at Google trying to compete with Facebook as an example. Let the best service win. And let's hope all artists get their deserved share.