Case Apple Music: plan to capture the universe
Sometimes we write about music companies, for example, not so long ago we published material about SoundCloud and a selection of interesting audio startups . Today we decided to talk about the service Apple Music. It was launched in the summer of 2015 and many were surprised to enter the already established market of streaming music platforms.
On the other hand, the reasons for this were weighty: downloading paid content, including sales of iTunes, declined in 2014 (by 13%). At the same time, the subscription market had already grown by 54%. Therefore, in order to regain control of the music industry, the company decided to fight. What came of it, how Apple Music differs from competing services, and how it fixes its shortcomings, read this article.
Photo Aidan CC0
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Apple had a huge competitive advantage - they did not need to attract new customers, as they already had a huge user base. This explains the incredible success: it took only a year to reach the mark of 15 million subscribers of Apple Music, and Spotify six years.
Today, Spotify (50 million subscribers) remains the industry leader. Pandora Internet radio has a slightly different format and 81 million users, of which only 4.4 million are paid subscribers. But recently, the company launched the Pandora Premium service, which will work on the principle of streaming platforms.
But Google Play Music does not disclose data on the number of subscribers. At the end of 2016, Apple Music had 20 million users, but huge plans to conquer the world: when starting up, the company wanted to reach the figure of 100 million (and here we are talking only about paid subscribers).
Today, Apple Music consists of a whole system of services. The basis is the streaming directory with 30 million tracks. Not everyone knows, but the search in the catalog can be done using Siri. Unfortunately, it does not always correctly recognize the name of the groups, but in certain situations, for example, in a car, this option can be very useful. The iCloud Music Library service allows you to transfer music from your collection to Apple Music and listen to it on any other device.
In addition, Apple has its own Beats 1 radio. In some ways, it has similarities with podcasts, but in addition to the programs that the musicians themselves (Elton John, Farrell Williams, Skrillex and others) have, you can listen to interesting selections on it. The lead and creative director on Beats 1 was DJ Zane Lowe, who previously hosted an evening show on BBC Radio 1. In addition to Beats 1, there are automatic radio stations (formerly iTunes Radio), which are based on the selected artist or other settings.
There is also a service for the selection of music, depending on your musical preferences (likes and dislikes). When launched at Apple stressed that the recommendations are music experts, real people. In addition to the recommendations in accordance with the music that users listen to, Apple Music New contains separate collections of playlists that were compiled by the company's employees, as well as new tracks and albums.
The purpose of this service is to make it easier for users to search for music and music novelties. And finally, Apple tried to create a social network Connect for musicians and their fans for the second time, where the latter can follow the life of idols and even get access to unreleased tracks.
Photo by Andrei Ianovskii CC
Apple deliberately entered the highly competitive market. Let's try to figure out how Apple Music is different from its competitors, and in what you can see the similarities. It should be noted that many of the features that are part of Apple Music, there are competitors. For example, Spotify can import music from iTunes and sync to mobile devices.
As we have said, Apple was proud of attracting living people to make recommendations. However, the service from the very beginning also used algorithms for the selection of compositions, and in the main streaming platforms today there is no shortage of musical experts for compiling playlists. So in this, Apple is not much different from competitors.
In addition, in Spotify there is a function to search for new music Discover Weekly, which creates mixes from your favorite songs, songs that you might like, and tracks unknown and new performers for you. Apple For You has a similar feature for creating such mixes, which is completely based on search using algorithms. True, some users have noted a deterioration in service.
One of the main differences is, perhaps, that companies enter into exclusive contracts with some stars. For example, Taylor Swift removed her albums from Spotify, but later signed an agreement to distribute her tracks through Apple Music. In 2016, Apple Music also exclusively featured several albums by other artists. Among them was Drake's album, which in the first week was bought over a million times.
For all the time, the album was listened to 1 billion times, so this year Apple plans to attract 1 million new users in two weeks of exclusive access to Drake's new tracks. Another difference is the diverse video content that Apple also provides access to. This, for example, and the reality show about the developers of Planet of the Apps, and the show James Cordan Carpool Karaoke (the rights to which Apple bought from CBS).
After starting the service, users were far from satisfied with everything. It is mainly about the fact that when you connect the iCloud Music Library and transfer tracks to the cloud, Apple Music replaced the songs on users' devices with a copy from its collection. This was done with exceptionally good intentions: the quality of the apple tracks was better. But it turned out that many users kept exclusive versions of the compositions, which caused a big wave of discontent with the service.
Not everyone liked the new social network Connect. For example, the leader of the group Airplane Mode shared his experience using the platform. He noted that from the group’s account they didn’t even see how many users subscribed to them, how many people listen to their music and how many watches the video. At some point, the group generally lost access to its account due to a service error, and with it all its subscribers. The only advantage of the social network, the musician called the audience reach of users of Apple Music. But, again, due to the lack of statistics, it was impossible to assess the growth of listeners.
In iOS 10, many bugs were fixed and various changes were made. For example, the same Connect is no longer on a separate tab, but is built into the For You service. Most likely, the social network will even become a separate application with enhanced functionality, which will take into account all the dissatisfaction of users and musicians.
In addition, it became possible to disable certain functions, which can prevent the replacement of records in their own collection or their removal to optimize memory. For those who did not know, the application is also available for Android devices. In any case, a year and a half is too short a time to draw final conclusions. Especially, given the age of competitors. Therefore, we hope that with the new updates the service will only get better.
On the other hand, the reasons for this were weighty: downloading paid content, including sales of iTunes, declined in 2014 (by 13%). At the same time, the subscription market had already grown by 54%. Therefore, in order to regain control of the music industry, the company decided to fight. What came of it, how Apple Music differs from competing services, and how it fixes its shortcomings, read this article.
Photo Aidan CC0')
And we grow
Apple had a huge competitive advantage - they did not need to attract new customers, as they already had a huge user base. This explains the incredible success: it took only a year to reach the mark of 15 million subscribers of Apple Music, and Spotify six years.
Today, Spotify (50 million subscribers) remains the industry leader. Pandora Internet radio has a slightly different format and 81 million users, of which only 4.4 million are paid subscribers. But recently, the company launched the Pandora Premium service, which will work on the principle of streaming platforms.
But Google Play Music does not disclose data on the number of subscribers. At the end of 2016, Apple Music had 20 million users, but huge plans to conquer the world: when starting up, the company wanted to reach the figure of 100 million (and here we are talking only about paid subscribers).
What Apple Music is made of
Today, Apple Music consists of a whole system of services. The basis is the streaming directory with 30 million tracks. Not everyone knows, but the search in the catalog can be done using Siri. Unfortunately, it does not always correctly recognize the name of the groups, but in certain situations, for example, in a car, this option can be very useful. The iCloud Music Library service allows you to transfer music from your collection to Apple Music and listen to it on any other device.
In addition, Apple has its own Beats 1 radio. In some ways, it has similarities with podcasts, but in addition to the programs that the musicians themselves (Elton John, Farrell Williams, Skrillex and others) have, you can listen to interesting selections on it. The lead and creative director on Beats 1 was DJ Zane Lowe, who previously hosted an evening show on BBC Radio 1. In addition to Beats 1, there are automatic radio stations (formerly iTunes Radio), which are based on the selected artist or other settings.
There is also a service for the selection of music, depending on your musical preferences (likes and dislikes). When launched at Apple stressed that the recommendations are music experts, real people. In addition to the recommendations in accordance with the music that users listen to, Apple Music New contains separate collections of playlists that were compiled by the company's employees, as well as new tracks and albums.
The purpose of this service is to make it easier for users to search for music and music novelties. And finally, Apple tried to create a social network Connect for musicians and their fans for the second time, where the latter can follow the life of idols and even get access to unreleased tracks.
Photo by Andrei Ianovskii CC
Eyes scatter
Apple deliberately entered the highly competitive market. Let's try to figure out how Apple Music is different from its competitors, and in what you can see the similarities. It should be noted that many of the features that are part of Apple Music, there are competitors. For example, Spotify can import music from iTunes and sync to mobile devices.
As we have said, Apple was proud of attracting living people to make recommendations. However, the service from the very beginning also used algorithms for the selection of compositions, and in the main streaming platforms today there is no shortage of musical experts for compiling playlists. So in this, Apple is not much different from competitors.
In addition, in Spotify there is a function to search for new music Discover Weekly, which creates mixes from your favorite songs, songs that you might like, and tracks unknown and new performers for you. Apple For You has a similar feature for creating such mixes, which is completely based on search using algorithms. True, some users have noted a deterioration in service.
One of the main differences is, perhaps, that companies enter into exclusive contracts with some stars. For example, Taylor Swift removed her albums from Spotify, but later signed an agreement to distribute her tracks through Apple Music. In 2016, Apple Music also exclusively featured several albums by other artists. Among them was Drake's album, which in the first week was bought over a million times.
For all the time, the album was listened to 1 billion times, so this year Apple plans to attract 1 million new users in two weeks of exclusive access to Drake's new tracks. Another difference is the diverse video content that Apple also provides access to. This, for example, and the reality show about the developers of Planet of the Apps, and the show James Cordan Carpool Karaoke (the rights to which Apple bought from CBS).
A spoon of tar
After starting the service, users were far from satisfied with everything. It is mainly about the fact that when you connect the iCloud Music Library and transfer tracks to the cloud, Apple Music replaced the songs on users' devices with a copy from its collection. This was done with exceptionally good intentions: the quality of the apple tracks was better. But it turned out that many users kept exclusive versions of the compositions, which caused a big wave of discontent with the service.
Not everyone liked the new social network Connect. For example, the leader of the group Airplane Mode shared his experience using the platform. He noted that from the group’s account they didn’t even see how many users subscribed to them, how many people listen to their music and how many watches the video. At some point, the group generally lost access to its account due to a service error, and with it all its subscribers. The only advantage of the social network, the musician called the audience reach of users of Apple Music. But, again, due to the lack of statistics, it was impossible to assess the growth of listeners.
In iOS 10, many bugs were fixed and various changes were made. For example, the same Connect is no longer on a separate tab, but is built into the For You service. Most likely, the social network will even become a separate application with enhanced functionality, which will take into account all the dissatisfaction of users and musicians.
In addition, it became possible to disable certain functions, which can prevent the replacement of records in their own collection or their removal to optimize memory. For those who did not know, the application is also available for Android devices. In any case, a year and a half is too short a time to draw final conclusions. Especially, given the age of competitors. Therefore, we hope that with the new updates the service will only get better.
Our other materials:
- Digest "World Hi-Fi": portable audio, software, formats and vinyl
- Case SoundCloud: Through thorns to new rounds of funding
- How and why music services form playlists.
- Join the stream: The present and the future of music streaming
- Output hymn to work: what the developers are listening to
- Myths and Reality: What you need to know about modern audio systems
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/402449/
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