Can Apple Catch Spotify?
The million dollar question people seem to be asking as of late is this: can Apple Music make up for the lost time and attempt to catch and surpass Spotify? Before I can answer that, I think the more important question is how big does Spotify need to get in order to be UN-KILLABLE. Considering they just filed for a $1Billion IPO, yes that’s billion with a “B”, it seems unlikely that Apple can impose its will and squash Spotify, but then again stranger things have happened.
We live in a universe where no entity, no company, nobody is safe. No one is too big to fail. However, in this case if Apple wants a shot at catching up they need to make some big things happen very quickly. People love Spotify right now because of the incredible preset playlists, amazing libraries of music, access to the newest songs by their favourite artists, and most importantly it is now what they are familiar with.
It has both a free and subscription-based option, which if I am being honest, there really is only one option, since the free version will surely give you high blood pressure from all the ads standing in between you and your favourite Kendrick Lamar song. There was a gap in the market and they monopolized it and with its 160 million users, 70 million of which are paying subscribers, it is impossible to deny who is number 1 in the music streaming game right now.
Apple has the advantage of being one of the biggest companies on the planet, with unlimited resources and a history of putting a dent in everyone’s wallets and driving parents insane when their 12 year old wants a brand new iPhone X, MacBook Pro, and iPad. When a company making smartphones, tablets and laptops has a financing option to buy their products and people are still going crazy for them, well needless to say they know what they are doing. But with only 30 million paying subscribers for Apple Music, it seems like they may have lost their touch, although this will surely change.
Unfortunately for Apple, this time is going to be different. I know for me personally, I have no reason to cancel my subscription to Spotify; a service I love and have used for some time, for an Apple product that seems to be somewhat inferior, or at par. So how do they do it? They took their foot off the gas with iTunes, so Spotify came and ate their lunch.
If you ask me, the real value prop for them will be turning Apple Music into a record label of sorts. They need to understand where their strengths lie; it is with their resources. They have the money and power to pull something like this off and completely change the game altogether.
If they could sign artists and have them produce music solely for their music streaming platform, especially artists that people know and love, as well as some new vibrant talent, they could basically go to a level that Spotify can’t attain. Or at least not to the scale that Apple can. Apple invented the game, Spotify perfected it and now Apple is just bench warming waiting for their shot.
All in all, Spotify has reached a point in the music streaming industry where they aren’t going anywhere. They are a mogul and a force to be reckoned with. Either way, we have front row seats to a heavyweight fight that is going down, and I think we can all agree that no matter who comes out on top, we as the consumer benefit. What do you think? Let me know.
That’s all for now, hope you enjoyed my take on one of the hottest topics in the tech/music industry as of late.
Till next time, read between the lines.
