Spotify's Effect on the Music Industry
Georgia Kirker-Head
One industry that has been extremely
affected by the recent technological advances in the new digital age is the
music industry. Music streaming and music streaming services such as Spotify,
Apple Music, and Tidal have reinvented the way people retrieve and listen to
music. Music streaming allows people to take control over their music and
listen to virtually any song or album for just a small monthly fee. The most
recent numbers collected from the Recording Industry Association of America showed
that streaming music brought in more money than digital downloads and sales of
physical objects like records/albums for the first time last year in 2015(Tsioulcas).
Streaming is now the major way that people access their music with Spotify
being the most dominant streaming service of them all with approximately 75
million active users (Alexander). I believe that music streaming services will
eventually put the Apple iTunes music store (not to be confused with the new Apple
Music streaming service) out of business altogether.
So what exactly makes people so
drawn towards music streaming services, more specifically, Spotify? Well to
begin, there’s the cost. Spotify has a free version that comes with ads scattered
in between the songs. However, the ad-free service, called Spotify Premium
costs only $10 a month, or less if you have a special package or are a student
user. Just by paying this small fee users can access more than 30 million songs
and videos with their subscription (Alexander). A few years ago, if you were
not buying a physical copy of an album in stores, you were either downloading
the music illegally or buying it in the iTunes store. Streaming services now
allow users to not have to spend a large sum of money for something that could
be available for free. No longer do people have to spend $1.29 on just one song
that they wish to listen to. So now let us compare Spotify to the “old fashion”
way of buying digital albums on the computer. Zayn Malik just released his
latest album Mind of Mine on March 25th
on both Spotify and in the Apple iTunes store. Well, obviously, Spotify users
will not have to pay any additional money to listen to the new album, whereas,
those listeners who still use the iTunes store would have to buy the CD for $13.99
(ZAYN on iTunes). When you look at the two music services from this perspective
it seems ridiculous to have to pay $14 for Zayn’s mere 18 songs off his latest
album over $10 for all of Zayn’s songs and an additional 30 million songs by a
wide variety of other artists, including all of Zayns songs, through Spotify.
Another reason that I personally believe
that Spotify dominates the music industry is because of its “Discover” section.
Spotify allows users to discover new songs, artists, albums, etc. very easily,
which was one thing that I found hard to do in the Apple iTunes store. When you
look at the Apple iTunes homepage it is clear that it is dominated by the most
popular, mainstream artists, making it difficult to find new music and/or up and
coming artists. Spotify, on the other hand, actually has its own service called
“Discovered Weekly” which creates a tailor-made playlist for each individual
user based on their listening history. Spotify stated, “For the first time ever, we’re combining your
personal taste in music with what similar fans are enjoying right now. This
means every song in Discover Weekly is based both on your own listening as well
as what others are playlisting and listening to around the songs you love –
making your playlist completely unique and full of deep cuts and new
discoveries” (Introducing Discover Weekly). The Discover Weekly playlist is
updated every Monday so Spotify users are constantly being introduced to new
music, unlike anything that the Apple iTunes store has done before.
The last factor that I want to
discuss that definitely adds to Spotify’s success is the Spotify’s social media
integration. By adding a social media aspect to Spotify, users can connect with
other users on a new, personal level. Users can link his or her Facebook
account to Spotify to share new music and playlists with other friends and
family members who have the service, this was never possible with Apple iTunes
music. So as you can tell, Spotify is currently dominating the music industry
in a number of ways. By having users pay a monthly fee for unlimited music
people are finding it less necessary to have to buy individual songs/albums in
the iTunes store. Additionally, Spotify makes it easier for all of its users to
be exposed to new music in a way like never before. I believe if Spotify
continues to grow as a company and continues to update its services to fit the
new technological age there will eventually be no need for the Apple iTunes
store.
Works
Cited
Alexander,
Madi. "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming
Services." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June
2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"Introducing Discover Weekly: Your Ultimate
Personalised playlist." Spotify - Press. N.p., 20 July
2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Tsioulcas, Anastasia.
"Music Streaming Takes Dominant Role In Industry." NPR. NPR,
26 Mar. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"ZAYN on ITunes." ITunes. Apple Music, n.d.
Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of music services, the one that comes to mind first is Spotify. Then I think Pandora, and more recently Apple Music. Tidal, you’re a thing of the past. Google Play, what even are you? Rhapsody, I forgot you existed, sorry. Amazon Prime Music… just no. And then there is SoundCloud.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, SoundCloud is an outlet for new or aspiring artists, and people who are interested in new, undiscovered music. As Madi Alexander of the New York Times put it, “the service is used by many musicians for remixes, promotional tracks or special projects.” SoundCloud gives users the ability to upload their original work, which in my mind is what makes SoundCloud so popular and so distinct from the other music streaming options. My perceptual map does not have SoundCloud and Spotify as direct competitors though, because they are known for different features. However, it is clever that Spotify has enabled the “Discovered Weekly” feature that you mentioned Georgia, because it resembles SoundCloud to an extent and essentially makes it a competitor. Comparing all the available music streaming packages from the New York Times article, I’m surprised SoundCloud isn’t as recognizable as some of its competitors. The content offered is almost just as good as the others, and it’s free! Comparing the top ranked Spotify to another services shows how Spotify is the leader, because it adapts features from its competition.
I like to think that I am not the only human who has a hard time remembering song titles. When I hear a song on the radio my brain does this awesome thing where it only remembers about three words of the entire song when I try to think of it later on in the day. When you’re trying to think of the name of a song and cannot recall the title, there’s no way to just forget about it! It’s necessary to use those three lyrics to decode the song and figure out the name. As an Apple user, I usually click on my iTunes icon on my finder bar across the bottom of my screen and look at the list of “Top Songs” on the first page. This is a strength of Apple Music; recent releases, top songs, and popular albums are prominently displayed on the first page. Scrolling through the “Top Songs” list will usually strike my memory, or I will click the play button and listen to a 30 second sample of the music. In 2015 when all I could remember was, “I’m like hey, what’s up, hello,” finding “Fetty Wap’s ‘Trap Queen’ (which spent three weeks at No. 2),” on the top chart list made my brain-fart clear up quickly (Caulfield).
Having said that, that is the only reason I am on the Apple Store anymore. I have not paid $1.29 for a song since high school, so Spotify is the way to go. It has already combined the best features of all the most popular music downloading and streaming sights, so there is not much more to improve upon except to entirely remove the competition from the game. As Spotify not only becomes a platform for users to download any song they want, but also a place to find new music that may not be mainstream or what’s popular on the radio like Apple Music highlights, it will continue to thrive. Georgia I’m with you on this one, the next few years projects nothing but Spotify.
Works Cited:
Alexander, Madi. "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming Services." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Caulfield, Keith. “The Year in Pop 2015.” Billboard. Billboard.com, 9 Dec. 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2016
Living in the age of digital technology is truly a blessing; we can witness, firsthand, how drastically technology can change industries, lives, and even the world as a whole. As technology advances, change becomes vital as people and companies throughout the world have to adapt to these changes.
ReplyDeleteOn a personal, and generational, level, I can’t emphasize enough how much my friends and I demand the easiest, cheapest and most convenient forms of entertainment. I remember when I was in middle school and Verizon came out with its first camera flip phone. My friends and I were awe-stricken; how could a cellphone have a camera in it? At the time, I thought there would never be anything more amazing than this invention, but my assumptions were obviously wrong. Just as the mobile phone industry evolved with technological advances, the music industry changed too: in just my lifetime, I witnessed the transition from CDs to MP3s to live-streamed music.
Georgia could not be more right when she states the music industry has been extremely affected by technological advances. Like the film industry, the music industry has undergone drastic changes in order to cater to people’s needs. One company that exemplifies the changes the music industry has had to undergo due to technological advances is Spotify. Spotify is opportunistic; it takes every chance it can to use new forms of technology to advance their streaming services to better satisfy their customers. Spotify has also created a paradigm shift in the music industry. ITunes, once the leading company in music sales (charging $1.29 per song), now has to compete with a company like Spotify that charges $10 dollars a month (or less depending on what package a customer buys) for access to a wide variety of different musical artists.
From the surface, Spotify seems like the better choice; it’s more financially flexible for students in school (like myself) to afford. Not only does Spotify offer a student package, but it also becomes accustomed to one’s musical taste and delivers new, upcoming, and similar artists and songs to introduce users to more diverse genres of music.
Spotify changed the music industry so much due to its streaming services that companies like Apple have had to make astronomical changes in order to compete with streaming services like Spotify. “The rise in the popularity of streaming music has prompted some prominent names to enter the competition. The Jay Z venture Tidal, Google Play and, most recently, Apple Music are the latest paid services for streaming songs, creating serious competition for companies like Pandora and Spotify” (Sisario).
Spotify continues to be a regular subject of speculation due to fact of how much it has changed the music industry. In many ways, Spotify is the music industries version Netflix. Both services, by providing extensive access for a monthly rate, challenged the prevailing norms in their respective industries.
Currently, Spotify is globally expanding as well; “It operates in 58 countries, and recently began advertising for jobs in Japan, raising speculation that it would soon begin operating in that country, which is the world’s second-largest music market but one long resistant to streaming” (Alexander). By Spotify expanding globally, the competition in the music industry will become even more prevalent than it is now. Spotify making grounds in country’s such as Japan is remarkable considering that they’re against live music streaming, but willing to assimilate to the new era of music streaming.
Furthermore, music companies will have to adapt to this paradigm shift happening in order to survive.
Works Cited:
Alexander, Madi. "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming Services." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Sisario, Ben. “Spotify Is Said to Be Seeking $500 Million in New Funds.” New York Times. 27 Jan. 2016. Web.
As someone who doesn’t personally have Spotify, Apple Music or any streaming service, I found your post to be very informative and interesting. For most of its history, the business model of the music industry has been pretty simple. The music label was the bank, arranging agreements with artists to finance and control production, distribution, royalties and other costs associated with making music. When iTunes entered the picture, Apple paid royalties to an artist or label per download. Then along came streaming, streaming is the continuous flow of data or information like music or video to a computer or device without having the capability of keeping it on your hard drive. Chandra Johnson says in her article “How Streaming Music Is Changing The Industry”, streaming isn't just a convenient way to get music for those with a high-speed Internet connection; it's poised to change the music industry, as we know it — again (Johnson 2015).
ReplyDeleteIt wasn’t that long ago that jumping in your car and going to a store was the most convenient way to find music. Now, it’s a search bar. Since Pandora was founded in 2000 and Spotify came to the U.S. in 2011, music streaming has quickly outpaced downloading as the primary way people listen to music (Alexander 2015). When artists have to hope their songs get streamed more than 1,000 times to make the same money they once did on a 10-track album, it's easier to see why high-profile musicians like Taylor Swift and Jay-Z have pushed back against the streaming model (Johnson 2015).
In their efforts, both Swift and Jay-Z aren't fighting against streaming necessarily, but against a model that pays artists and others in the music industry fractions of pennies per stream. I think this is a key moment in music where artists try to figure out where they stand in this industry. These artists are coming out with great new music and thousands of people are enjoying it but for pennies on the dollar. Even thought they still make millions of dollars, I believe they are entitled to more money that streaming is giving them (Johnson 2015). It takes an estimated one million spins on Pandora for a songwriter to earn just 90 dollars. I think that is a travesty. It almost seems illegal (Rys 2016). But we are the Limewire and Napster generation that wants things now and we want it for free.
To me, it’s funny that these artists complain about not getting enough money for their music but they only release their albums on paid websites (Tidal) and end up not making nearly as much money as it should. And as Dan Rhys says, “the longer he waits, the worse [the piracy] will get (Rys 2016). Eventually by the time he “officially” releases it, nobody will actually buy it because everyone will have already illegally downloaded it (including myself). So is it actually about the money or just the principal of people enjoying their work/livelihood for free? After writing this blog post and doing research on streaming services, I am still unsure about which one I want to get. Any suggestions?
Works Cited:
Alexander, Madi. "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming Services." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Johnson, Chandra. "How Streaming Music Is Changing the Industry."Deseret News. National, 29 June 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Rys, Dan. "The Future of Pablo: What's Next for Kanye West's Not-Really-Released Album?" Billboard. N.p., 19 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Taylor Hoblitzell
ReplyDeleteSpotify is absolutely dominating the music industry. It’s looked at how people look at Netflix. They are both very cheap with a plethora of streaming options. It is also one of the most commonly used music streaming services on a college campus. They even have a student premium package, specifically drawing in student users. Spotfiy’s success has been drawing in competitors, “The Jay Z venture Tidal, Google Play and, most recently, Apple Music are the latest paid services for streaming songs, creating serious competition for companies like Pandora and Spotify.” (Alexander)
I think that Spotify will eventually overpower and consume Apple’s iTunes music customers. They already have a much more cost effect budget, which they are marketing to real people. Students for example, are the perfect group of people to market to with a lower cost account. With a student email address the overall cost is lowered. They even appeal to working students or those with a desk job with genres and moods with playlists specifically for focusing.
I have also noticed like Georgia mentioned, that it is easier to discover a wider variety of music on Spotify than it is on iTunes. iTunes was perfect for me as a middle schooler when I got my first iPod. I only listened to the radio and wanted to have Top 100 songs on my iPod. iTunes was the most appealing for that. I had already bought an iPod, so I needed the iTunes store. Now, I only use Spotify for music. I have noticed how easy it is to discover so much music and they save it to your own playlist or follow a new playlist you like. Spotify is taking over iTunes’ turf in every aspect of the way. For long plane rides, I always needed to make sure that my iPod was synced and charged so I could listen to it in the air. Spotify allows premium users to save playlists and songs for offline listening, No more long and extensive syncing or charging. As long as I have my phone charged, I can listen to whatever song I could possibly want. Spotify’s social media is also allowing their customers to connect in the process of listening to music. Originally, people used to come together to listen to and perform music. They are giving us an outlet to stay connected with what our friends are listening to even when we are trapped in the library in isolation or traveling.
Spotify’s competitors have already stepped up their game,”…Spotify, which is privately owned, compete against Apple, which introduced a streaming service last year and recently crossed 10 million paying users, as well as Pandora, which has dominated Internet radio in the United States, but has plans to enter the world of on-demand audio, in direct competition with Spotify and Apple.” (Sisrio) I do not think that Apple will let the music industry slip from them so easily. This is why they already have Apple Music up and coming. Apple has done so much for making music digital, however the original iTunes store is already outdated. I have to agree that if Spotify keeps playing their cards right, there will be no need for Apple in the music industry.
Works Cited
Alexander, Madi. "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming Services." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Sisario, Ben. "Spotify Is Said to Be Seeking $500 Million in New Funds." The New York Times. N.p., 27 Jan. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Zach Caldicott
ReplyDeleteMusic Streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal have certainly transformed the way we access our music. I, for one, am an avid user of Spotify and I find it to be the best service to meet all of my music needs. For just 5 dollars a month, I can choose from a catalog of over 30 millions songs. (Alexander) and the way the songs are categorized, makes it so easy to browse through.
It’s hard to believe that just a few short years ago, streaming was a new concept. Before that, I would wait for the release of an artist’s album, and immediately go and buy the CD. Even though I usually enjoyed the majority of an album, there were times when there would be songs that I didn’t particularly like. With streaming, I quickly realized that it was more cost effective to subscribe and listen to exactly what I wanted. For the cost of maybe 5 CD’s each year, I can subscribe to Spotify for a full year. Another great things about Spotify is that I can use it on multiple devices, even on my home audio system.
I also am a big fan of Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” feature which offers a recommended playlist based on the music I listen to. This feature has helped me find new artists that I would have never even thought of listening to before. According to an article on The Verge, Spotify’s Discover Weekly, which is based on “algorithms,” may be the feature that beats out its competition (Popper).
I agree that buying music from ITunes will soon become obsolete. With the emergence of streaming services like Apple Music and Tidal, it is obvious that these companies are offering new and improved way to attract users. Everything seems to be about improving the user experience. People who subscribe to Tidal don’t just get music, they also get videos on demand. They also have a special feature called Tidal X where artists and fans can connect through events. (Alexander).
Even though Tidal has had staffing problems, Jay-Z recently hired Jeff Toig, who has a lot of experience in the digital music world, which shows that he is committed to keeping this company alive. According to Toig, the whole concept around Tidal is to give subscribers the best user experience they can (Peoples).
Music streaming will continue to dominate the way people access and listen to music. With the introduction of Tidal, Google Play, and Apple Music, it is obvious that this category continues to get more and more competitive. It will be key for each player to offer something new and exciting in order to survive.
Work Cited
Alexander, Madi. "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming Services." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Peoples, Glenn. "Jay Z's Tidal Gets New CEO: Former SoundCloud Exec Takes the Streaming Reins." Billboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Popper, Ben, “How Spotify’s Discover Weekly Cracked Human Curation at Internet Scale.” The Verge, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Mar 2016.
You blog was very informative and persuasive. So much so that I might just subscribe to Spotify premium right now. I completely agree with your argument that Spotify will soon outrun and put an end to Apple iTunes. It is actually ridiculous to think there are people out there paying upwards of $14 for a single artists album, when they could be saving $4 or more and getting so much more music and more services on Spotify. Nowadays I like to think of iTunes as "a la carte" music and streaming services like Spotify and Apple music as unlimited.
ReplyDeleteI'm wouldn't say I'm an avid music listener, but I do enjoy listening to music. I find I listen to music the most in the car. Yes, I'm one of those few people in the millenial generation that actually enjoy listening to the radio and don't plug my phone into my auxiliary cord. Most millennials I know always play their own music in the car, whereas my parents and older generations tend to still let the radio dictate what they listen to. However, music streaming services are becoming almost too cheap and useful to not have. The millenial generation is all about customizing anything and everything to fit their individual needs. As mentioned in the article, "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming Services"...different streaming services offer varying levels of control to the user — from customizable radio stations to on-demand listening, in which users can pick the exact song they want to hear. Today, its all about what the customer wants to hear and record labels no longer have control over what is being played (except for on the radio).
Out of all the streaming services out there, Spotify seems to be winning the game and having the most success. With "75 million users, 20 million of whom pay, but its numbers are thought to have grown substantially since then" (Sisario). They know their customer and have tailored their streaming services to their customer. Pandora, although it was one of the originators in the streaming world has been conquered by services like Spotify, Apple music and SoundCloud who offer better (well at least in my opinion) services and a larger variety. I am left wondering why Apple Music took so long to come out. You would have thought it would be a no brainer for Apple to compete with music streaming services. Due to its late arrival, I think Apple Music isn't as competitive as its competitors. Had Apple Music come out when streaming music services first became popular, I think many people would have gone with Apple Music, because hey its Apple. People like the name of Apple and people trust the name of Apple.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I was just talking to my dad about streaming services last weekend. My dad is a dinosaur when it comes to music playing methods. He still goes to the library to take out CDs. Yes, I said library and yes I said CD. He asked how much a song on iTunes cost and he began to rattle off everything in the world you could buy for $1.29. "Why not just take it out at the library?" Sorry, dad not everyone has a CD player with them at all times and the North Caldwell library doesn't carry the latest music. I began to explain the rise of streaming services and piracy methods of downloading music. I didn't convince him much.
Speaking of piracy methods and illegal downloading, it seems as though streaming services have suppressed the illegal downloading of music. I remember the days of Limewire and will still admittedly download a song or two on one of those Youtube to iTunes websites, if I really need to. Streaming services have made streaming way more desirable with their low prices, variety of millions of songs and other unique areas like discovering new music, following you friends and more. Spotify has even been able to become a social network by connecting with friends and new users, bringing the service even more so into the millenial's world.
Alexander, Madi. "Apple Music, Spotify and a Guide to Music Streaming Services." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June 2015.
Sisario, Ben. "Spotify Is Said to Be Seeking $500 Million in New Funds." The New York Times. N.p., 27 Jan. 2016.
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