Apple Music launch gave Spotify a shot in the arm, says exec
- maj
- 09
In an interesting turn of events, it seems that the launch of Apple Music nearly a year ago has helped rival Spotify grow at a quicker pace. That's according to Spotify executive Jonathan Forster, who says that the Stockholm-based streaming service has been growing at a faster rate since Apple Music entered the streaming field.
From Reuters:
"It's great that Apple is in the game. They are definitely raising the profile of streaming. It is hard to build an industry on your own," Jonathan Forster, a vice president and one of its first employees, told Reuters in an interview.
"Since Apple Music started we've been growing quicker and adding more users than before."
However, though Forster says Spotify growth has accelerated since Apple Music's launch, he doesn't make clear whether that growth has been in terms of paid or free users. As mentioned in the report, Spotify now claims a total of 100 million users — 30 million of which are paid subscribers, according to the most recent numbers released in March. For comparison, Apple reported at its last earnings call that Apple Music now boasts 13 million paid subscribers.
Whatever the case, it seems as though Apple has only helped to raise the profile of streaming music. As for Spotify, the company just revealed that it will soon expand outside of music with its own original video content push.