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Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

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Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#251

Post by AndrewUnmuted »

siquick wrote: post #106
AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hate that you were downvoted for this. It may be only a single sentence, but I think you're correct to bring up the fact that Spotify and Apple Music both don't represent the entire music industry. These two entities are merely soulless peddlers of the Big 5. There are substantially important pockets of the music industry that do not exist in this narrow realm.

> These two entities are merely soulless peddlers of the Big 5 Rubbish - the vast majority of music on both platforms is not released on any of the big 5 record labels. Apple Music has so many playlists featuring underground artists and labels. Spotify Discover Weekly never gives me any big 5 music. The only time people get "peddled' the big 5 tracks is when they want to listen to them.

You know for a fact that the only reason either of these music services exist is because the Big 5 are in on it. Their catalog is what carries the services, and is what makes them profitable.

There is no Spotify or Apple Music without the Big 5. You cannot say the same of Bandcamp.

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#252

Post by AndrewUnmuted »

Axsuul wrote: post #152
AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this also shows that Apple has successfully yanked users out of Spotify. Not surprising in the least. The fact is: the music industry is indeed a winner-take-all market now. The industry's horrible response to Napster crippled them, and their inability to outmaneuver Steve Jobs in the aftermath led to a rather diminished industry overall. We see this in both recorded and live music - just look at LiveNation's ris…

> No, this also shows that Apple has successfully yanked users out of Spotify. Not surprising in the least. Not quite sure about this. Spotify is still growing and adding more users than ever. If Apple were seriously making a dent in Spotify's user base, we would've seen it affect their growth rate. Not everyone is in the Apple ecosystem--an overwhelming majority aren't. In the end, who makes the better product here?…

> Music is typically a passive form of media

That is only true of the past 20 years or so of the music industry's history.

I would sit and listen to music on my own, or with friends in a non-passive setting - every day as a kid. That was only 15 years ago.

Tell a musician in an orchestra that music is only listend to passively. It's so unbelievably offensive to the art, and so remarkably untrue.

> You can listen to music while playing games! Music is here to stay.

If they are able to be listened to while playing video games, maybe. What kind of garbage music would that include, and what beautiful and culturally-essential music would that exclude?

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#253

Post by fortythirteen »

dragonwriter wrote: post #247
fortythirteen wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Spotify as a company can push whatever politics they want to. If you read my other comments in this thread you'll see I agree. > You should accept that Spotify is a "liberal" company either as a stance of the management or as who they see their most engaged users to be. Everything doesn't need to appeal to you. It is a company owned by liberals. Semantics, but important ones. Also you pose a strawman. I never sugge…

> It is a company owned by liberals. Semantics, but important ones. A company is a tool of it's owners, everyone else involved is paid agents of the ownership. The distinction you draw isn't important, it's meaningless.

The company is a tool for streaming music. The politics are extracurricular.

When I go to Spotify's site, they sell me music streaming. Their company tagline isn't "Spotify: unlimited music and social justice activism".

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#254

Post by dragonwriter »

fortythirteen wrote: post #253
dragonwriter wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is a company owned by liberals. Semantics, but important ones. A company is a tool of it's owners, everyone else involved is paid agents of the ownership. The distinction you draw isn't important, it's meaningless.

The company is a tool for streaming music. The politics are extracurricular. When I go to Spotify's site, they sell me music streaming. Their company tagline isn't "Spotify: unlimited music and social justice activism".

> The company is a tool for streaming music

You've confused the company (which is a tool for serving the interests of the owners) with the product the company sells (which is a tool for streaming music.).

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#255

Post by abritinthebay »

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #173
abritinthebay wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s really interesting you say that to me because one of the reasons I loathed Spotify (aside from its awful UI) is that music discovery was so achingly bad. IMO - Pandora > Apple Music > Spotify for discovery at least. Then again I like that Apple Music throws me a curveball occasionally, it’s usually something I wouldn’t expect but quite like. Which, to me, is the point . YMMV ofc.

I've found Spotify to be vastly superior for discovery, in the genres I listen to (metal and hard rock, mostly).

Could be they are better at different genres. Would not be shocking.

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#256

Post by fortythirteen »

dragonwriter wrote: post #254
fortythirteen wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company is a tool for streaming music. The politics are extracurricular. When I go to Spotify's site, they sell me music streaming. Their company tagline isn't "Spotify: unlimited music and social justice activism".

> The company is a tool for streaming music You've confused the company (which is a tool for serving the interests of the owners) with the product the company sells (which is a tool for streaming music.).

I highly doubt that "political activism" will appear anywhere on Spotify's IPO application.

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#257

Post by fortythirteen »

vr46 wrote: post #244
fortythirteen wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely a he said/she said situation, but it's between two very politically active entities. Spotify still has an anti-travel ban playlist in their browse section after almost a year. It's their business and they can do what they want, but they are in no way coming from a politically neutral standpoint.

Everything is political. I can't see many if any playlists in my Spotify, so I can't see the playlist you mentioned, but given that the travel ban (legally dubious) affected musicians wanting to travel to the US, it's not entirely irrelevant. It's probably a good position to take if you want to appeal to your audience in Spotify's case. Not that I can be bothered to look, but there's surely playlists against gun cont…

> Not that I can be bothered to look, but there's surely playlists against gun control (starring Ted Nugent) and the like?

Not official Spotify playlists accompanied by a statement on why the company is against gun control.

I had to read pop up about the company's stance on DACA just to browse new releases a few weeks ago. I have a feeling that folks on the left are less prone to noticing this, considering most of pop culture is inundated with left wing politics. It's easier to not notice when it's inline with your worldview.

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#258

Post by pixelperfect »

EADGBE wrote: post #248
Jonnax wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's two things here. Spotify as a company can push whatever politics they want to. It's a business decision, if it loses them users then it's upto their management to determine whether that was a good option or not. You should accept that Spotify is a "liberal" company either as a stance of the management or as who they see their most engaged users to be. Everything doesn't need to appeal to you. Saying they're s…

> You should accept that Spotify is a "liberal" company What tech company isn't?

Palantir

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#259

Post by Axsuul »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #252
Axsuul wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, this also shows that Apple has successfully yanked users out of Spotify. Not surprising in the least. Not quite sure about this. Spotify is still growing and adding more users than ever. If Apple were seriously making a dent in Spotify's user base, we would've seen it affect their growth rate. Not everyone is in the Apple ecosystem--an overwhelming majority aren't. In the end, who makes the better product here?…

> Music is typically a passive form of media That is only true of the past 20 years or so of the music industry's history. I would sit and listen to music on my own, or with friends in a non-passive setting - every day as a kid. That was only 15 years ago. Tell a musician in an orchestra that music is only listend to passively. It's so unbelievably offensive to the art, and so remarkably untrue. > You can listen to m…

I never said music was only listened to passively, "typically" was what I aforementioned. Typically we are driving to work, working out, cooking while listening to music. It's not too often we are at venues where it is indeed an active activity.

Kids are probably listening to just as much music (I have younger siblings in grade school, n=2) but they're also more pre-occupied nowadays with other activities while consuming it.

> If they are able to be listened to while playing video games, maybe. What kind of garbage music would that include, and what beautiful and culturally-essential music would that exclude?

We don't know and we can't assume the music is garbage just because one isn't giving it the full attention it deserves.

Re: Apple Music on Track to Overtake Spotify in U.S. Subscribers

#260

Post by drb91 »

drb91 wrote: post #133
kiliankoe wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can definitely remember this being possible a while back when I was using Spotify.

Yea, it still forces you to listen through the spotify player rather than itunes (which is not at all surprising) and they never supported smart playlists. Again, not surprising, but certainly enough for me to prefer apple music. The player is just way, way better for my needs.

Also (forgot before I can’t edit) spotify has no way of syncing your music not in their catalogue to your other devices. So my many bootlegs, mixtapes, and music not in the spotify catalogue is a real PITA to manage across devices, and is not even possible in some cases (eg I can’t think of a way to listen to my mixtapes on the xbox spotify player).

Meanwhile apple has the “itunes match” program (...I think?) which solves this.

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