The music streaming market is currently largely divided by two services: Spotify and Apple Music. The battle has hardened recently, on the one hand in terms of investments and the way in which they try to earn money and on the other hand in the field of new functions.
Spotify: new licensing deals
Since profitability is still a problem for the Swedish service Spotify, the company is looking for new ways to save money and earn more. The site Recode reports that Spotify now closes licensing deals for the first time with singers and their managers themselves. The company therefore bypasses the music labels.
According to the sources of Recorde Spotify would have paid “several hundred thousand dollars” for a collection of numbers. Of course the streaming service does not want to respond to that, but it is a logical way to save money. At the same time it depends on the goodwill of the labels, which provide music.
Apple Music: new functions
Then there is Apple Music, which launches a number of new functions. The site MacRumors reports that Apple is making it easier for its users to see which new music is about to arrive. In both the iOS and the macOS version of the streaming service are now albums of, among others, Florence + The Machine, Interpol and Gorillaz indicated.
That information makes Apple available via a Coming Soon tab. But also albums that are not yet to be found, but have been announced, have a release date if available.
The battle
The battle between Apple Music and Spotify is a hard one. For a long time the Swedish service was the only one that managed to get a significant number of users. It currently has around 170 million users, of which 75 million transfer a fixed amount each month. Apple launched its service in the course of 2015 and currently has 40 million paying users. This has led to a sharp decline in Spotify’s lead.
