A new report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) looks at the difference in the service models between the two services. From the study:
° Apple provides streaming music through Apple Music, for which it charges a monthly fee. Apple does not offer a free streaming music option. Apple does not have a subscription-based podcast service. All podcasts are available through the Podcast app, with publishers offering them for free or charging a fee, which Apple takes a share of.
° Spotify has free and paid subscriptions. Both music and podcasts are available in either subscription, with some content exclusive to paid Spotify Premium members and an ad-free experience justifying the monthly cost.
° Many Apple customers have both Apple Music and a free Spotify subscription. Of course, relatively few customers pay for both Apple Music and Spotify Premium, since the services are primarily redundant.
° In 2024, half of Apple customers used paid Apple Music, while 41% used Apple Podcasts. While not as prevalent as music, podcast use has increased steadily in the past few years.
° Apple customers use Spotify (free and/or paid) to a roughly similar extent as Apple Music. Podcast use is similar, too, with 38% of Apple customers using Spotify for podcasts and 41% reporting using the Apple podcast app. For music, the paid Spotify Premium service lags Apple Music, with 30% of customers paying for Spotify. The free Spotify service is as popular as Apple Music, with 51% of Apple customers using it
° Given the later start, and the non-native nature of the app, Spotify has caught up nicely to Apple. This is especially notable in podcasts, which arrived at Spotify only in 2018, 13 years after they were added to iTunes. Spotify Premium has a smaller share of Apple customers than Apple Music, yet the free Spotify service gives Spotify a foothold with a large base of Apple device owners.
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
