Apple vs. Spotify: Through the Lens of Those who Consume and Create
After opening a smartphone, one is typically met with a colorful display of apps that nurture the needs or wants of its owner. Although their every move is being recorded in the software’s data, most will never see the numbers that reflect their individual experience with their device.
In the past, many were often opposed to the idea that they were being tracked. However, additions to music platforms have given users a different perspective. Spotify and Apple Music have given their listeners and artists a chance to better understand the content they are consuming and creating through statistics.
Listeners often experience the curation of analytics measured through a users previous listen history. Spotify presents an experience that is based on an algorithm that allows them to create individual playlists like “Discover Weekly” that present listeners with music they are projected to like, as well as lesser known tracks from artists they have been proven to love. Apple Music presents its users with the same suggestion option under their “For You” tab, but theirs is completely organic. They have decided to rely on human experts who create individualized playlists and recommendations tailored to music preference.
This graphic is from Spotify’s 2019 presentation of Wrapped. In addition to informing users who their artist of the year was, Spotify also shared each user's most played artist of the decade. (Source: Spotify)
Apple Music Replay shares a mix of artists and hours listened with users on its web player. (Source: Apple)
The two platforms are constantly in competition to break the mold of your typical streaming app by offering innovative features. Spotify offers exclusive podcasts while Apple has a 24-hour live radio. However, 2015 was a defining year for both companies. Apple was founded on June 30, 2015 and became available in over 100 countries worldwide with over 60 million songs, gaining 10 million subscribers in less than six months. In December of 2015, Spotify hit back by introducing its users to “Wrapped,” which offers each individual user their own digital archives of music and memories. This feature shares a detailed report of their top songs from the last year featuring most played, favorite genres, and the number of minutes listened among other statistics.
But this isn’t just an array of numbers on the screen: the app combines color and intricate collages that include album covers to engage subscribers to post their personal experience with the app on social media. According to Twitter’s data from last year it has been mentioned in at least 1.2 million posts. In the first week after Spotify Wrapped 2019 went live, Spotify told Forbes, more than 60 million users engaged with the in-app story experience that racked up nearly 3 billion streams from Wrapped playlists.
After numerous complaints about Apple not having a similar feature, the company came out with “Apple Music Replay.” Though only available through their web-player, it presents users with a breakdown of their favorite artists and how often they listen to them. It includes a list of their top 10 favorite albums. Apple also regenerates statistics weekly as opposed to Spotify, which only offers “Wrapped” in December. However, both streaming apps are aiming to use statistics to do more than inform. They each have a separate platform specifically for artists where a more in-depth display of listener demographics can be found and hopefully taken into consideration while music is being created.
“I prefer Apple Music for Artists because of their quick turn around,” says 19-year-old Charlotte rapper Reuben Vincent. “I once had an issue with a published track; Apple took about a day to fix it while Spotify took maybe a week.”
Despite his young age, Vincent is extremely experienced when it comes to creating and selling music. He released his debut mixtape IDOL.escent under the moniker Esau when he was just 13 years old, which gained the attention of Grammy award-winning producer 9th wonder, who Vincent is now signed to through Jamla Records. As an artist who has grown from streaming his work for free on SoundCloud to being paid by the play on larger platforms, he understands the importance of an intimate connection between the consumer and creator.
Vincent is able to see how songs he created and collaborated on are being received and where. (Photos courtesy of Reuben Vincent)
It’s one of the reasons why he gravitates to Apple Music for Artists over any other streaming platform. As someone who often stores music he’s created on Apple products, Vincent says he loves the way his work goes directly from his in-home audio to his audience. “Any file I have on my Mac I can directly upload onto iTunes,” says Vincent. “Once that’s done I can see where most of my streams come from; last week it was New York.”
On Apple’s platform, the audience data is mainly filtered through content, geography, and date, which is strictly presented through numbers, graphs, and charts. These three areas were specifically chosen to help artists decide how to brand, what to promote and where to tour to allow them to increase their revenue. “If we’re being honest, most of the money isn’t made off of streams,” says Vincent. “ We mainly get paid from shows, merchandise, and licensing fees.”
While Apple has one of the highest paying rates for artists at $0.00735 per stream, listeners seem to be more interested in Spotify, which is a free tier with an easy-to-use interface that offers the best device compatibility. Artists working on gaining a larger listening audience gravitate to Spotify for Artists for a similar reason. Spotify ranks in the middle, paying about $0.00437 per stream while allowing artists to upload music for free, share audience demographics and offer the unique ability to create a community learning space.
“I like Spotify because they have the best presentation on the for artists app and also feature little tips,” says 22-year-old MC Isaiah Ahmir Ford, a.k.a. Ahmir the King. Like Vincent, Ahmir started creating music at a young age. He gained national attention after dropping one of his most profound projects in high school called “Riot,” in which he encouraged protesters to take to the streets to fight police brutality. This song was inspired after he witnessed the video of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, shooting and killing Alton Sterling in 2016. Four years later, Ahmir still finds himself creating music around similar topics with hopes of influencing his audience to become more socially conscious. “The work is never done and this platform continues to help me grow,” he says.
In addition to offering numbers, charts, and graphs, Spotify for Artists also consistently shares articles, tutorials, and news with its users. Some of the topics include “Converting Audience Data into Business Deals,” and “How to avoid creative burnout.” Spotify for Artists shares a Directory of Resources which are separated under titles such as financial support, health and wellness, creating online, and creative inspiration on top of sharing tips from successful artists in the industry.
One distinctive feature on the Spotify for Artist platform is SoundBetter, a music production marketplace for people in the music industry to collaborate on projects and distribute music tracks for licensing. Both Vincent and Ahmir the King worked on a project called “On my Own” alongside accredited Charlotte rapper Mavi that dropped five months ago. Each of them agree that future projects like this would go smoother on a program similar to SoundBetter because what artists need most is a place to unite. SoundBetter offers tools for talent discovery, project management, payment facilitation, and a review system that has elevated transparency and trust in a reputation-based music production industry. “I want to connect to my listeners to keep them engaged, [streaming] apps that offer interactive platforms allow me to do that to the best of my ability,” says Ahmir.
Though neither Vincent nor Ahmir the King let analytics affect what they do creatively, they do use it to ensure that they are presenting their audiences with quality work on platforms that aim to give users an experience specifically tailored to their liking.
“I want to connect to my listeners to keep them engaged, [streaming] apps that offer interactive platforms allow me to do that to the best of my ability.”
Thumbnail Credits: TechCrunch