…But Apple Music?
The war has been waging the last few years in the music industry because of streaming services. Spotify has been leading the race, and in 2015, Tidal and Apple Music have been added to the mix too. Now that October is here, and plenty of users 3-month trial has ended, decisions need to be made on which streaming service to use, but where does Apple stand in this mix?
Apple Music Features
Apple music has introduced new features in their app specifically, called “For You” and “New”. “For You” allows you to select up to five genres that you favor and based on those decisions you make, Apple will make a playlist custom for your wants. “New” features the curators of Apple compiling all of the latest and music at even quicker rate than Spotify. Apple music also has an “A-List” playlist of pop music that alters each week depending on the chart positions. One feature that is great is that Apple music uses algorithms to enhance your iTunes collection, essentially this means that the more you use it, the better your selections will be.
Apple Music vs. Spotify
Based on the fact that the highest percent of cell phone user have iPhones, and the number one music streaming service is Spotify; There is a bit of a war going on between companies. Due to the 3-month trial of Apple Music on iPhone, many Spotify users began to experiment with the new product, but what are the comparisons?
Playlist
Spotify’s playlist are solely based on user creation and the company’s curator choices. Apple music’s playlist are based solely on user algorithms (what all the user is listening to) and user creation as well. Apple Music’s “For You” and Spotify’s “Discover” are extremely similar in concept. Spotify makes playlists based on what you have been listening to. Apple Music makes playlists based on the artists you select in the “For You” selection process. This consists of picking five artist, picking genres, or even certain songs.
Radio
Radio is a huge deal right now for mobile phones, and thankfully both have this feature. Although both don’t alter too much from the original radio streaming feature “Pandora”, there are some cool features. One of the things Apple Music offers is Beats 1 which broadcast live for 12 hours and it features many different artists running the station such as St. Vincent, Q-Tip and John Homme. Apple music does have a leg up on Spotify based on the fact that their radio feature is the exact same as Pandora itself. That being, all the listener can do is pick an “artists station” and a number of songs will be played as a result of what the listener picked. Many users will attest that Pandora will play the same songs that you favorite or like as time as goes by. With Beats 1, you can can have continuous coverage of artists different choices rather than just the same songs.
TV too??
Yes, due to the rise in competition, Spotify got a huge leg up on their competitors based on the fact that you can watch clips of TV episodes on the App. This includes Comedy Central, CNN, and even ESPN. Apple Music does not have this feature, but for any music festivals or any select coverage specific to Apple (which is basically everything), the user can get full access to that (such as watching full concerts at the recent Apple Music Festival).
Money
The price range is extremely similar in both platforms. Spotify being $9.99 a month ($4.99 for students) for unlimited services. Apple music is also $9.99 but a family plan is $14.99 with up to 6 users. Paying more attention to the artists themselves, Spotify is a huge harm in their money based on the fact that the artists only gets paid .0067 cents, A PLAY. A bit shocking if you ask me. Although Apple Music has not clarified how much the artists would be getting paid, it can be assumed that it would be in much more favor of the artists than Spotify. Many artists have taken their music off of Spotify and allowed Apple Music to let their listeners enjoy so their must be something new.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
The race is on as to which company will make it out alive, or what artists will pull their music from whichever platform they choose. Spotify has the users hearts, but the artists and producers are siding with Apple Music in definitely, only time will tell I guess. It was always said that the future of music would be soon, well being that the future of music is now, that is a frightening thing.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/is-apple-music-worth-paying-for
