THE STREAMING BATTLE
Since its launch six years ago, Apple Music
has made a signiicant dent in the industry.
The latest data suggests Apple holds a 15%
share of the global streaming subscription
market, with Spotify ahead with a 31% share,
and other players like Amazon Music, Tencent
Music, and YouTube Music climbing the ranks as
the market becomes increasingly fragmented
and globalized. Nowadays, it’s hard to ind
a technology giant that hasn’t dabbled in
streaming - even social networking giant
Facebook considered entering the game,
however, has since backed down. For less than
$10 per month, consumers can access a virtually
unlimited number of songs and albums from
the world’s biggest artists, and although some
releases have been exclusive to one provider to
push consumers to make the switch (think TIDAL
Exclusives, which have been heavily criticized
amongst music fans for limiting access to
content fans deserve to access), the truth is
that most players want to push their content on
every possible platform to make money. And
money they rarely make. On average across all
countries, Apple Music pays $0.00599265 per
stream, which, when you take into account
publishers and other players who take a cut in
every song’s stream, means the artists receive
very little for their work. It’s led to some singers,
such as Taylor Swift, publicly shaming
streamers for their remuneration, though in a
cut-throat sector, it’s likely that little will change.
What the streaming battle has done, however,
is give consumers more choice and power. It’s
common for Apple to regularly ofer three or
even six-month free trials for consumers who