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Apple Music vs Spotify: Who will win your listening ear?

SINGAPORE – On June 30, millions of Apple users across more than 100 countries who bothered to update the software on their iPhones and MacBooks found themselves with the new white, red and purple-blue Apple Music app on their devices, in place of the old orange Music app or iTunes icon. Apple promised the new music streaming service would be not only an “incredible experience”, but also “revolutionary”.

SINGAPORE – On June 30, millions of Apple users across more than 100 countries who bothered to update the software on their iPhones and MacBooks found themselves with the new white, red and purple-blue Apple Music app on their devices, in place of the old orange Music app or iTunes icon. Apple promised the new music streaming service would be not only an “incredible experience”, but also “revolutionary”.

But does Apple Music really live up to its hype? Much has been said about the service, which joins an already crowded market. In Singapore alone, there are more than half a dozen music streaming options, including Spotify, KKBOX, AMPed and Rdio, with YouTube’s Music Key set to arrive as well.

Yet, Apple Music, which is offering a free three-month trial to all its users, seems confident it can take a significant slice of the streaming pie. (A report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said the number of paying subscribers to subscription services rose to 41 million in 2014, up from only eight million in 2010.)

On paper, Apple Music pledges to be an “intuitive app” that allows users to tap its immense collection of 30 million songs — although Spotify also boasts the same number of songs in its library. For S$9.98 a month, Apple Music subscribers can streamline and access all their music — downloaded, ripped from CDs or streamed — from a single platform. Apple has also championed other features on the app, such as Connect, which allows artistes to share music, videos and other tidbits of information with fans; as well as its radio offering, Beats 1, a round-the- clock radio station broadcast worldwide from Los Angeles, New York and London.

So far, early adopters agree that Apple Music is something of a mixed bag. Some have criticised the app’s buggy-ness, slowness and complicated layout, while others have complained about how they have lost some of their music on iTunes in the confusion. Still, some users have decided to subscribe to Apple Music, pointing to its superior audio quality and its family package, which charges S$14.98 a month for up to six people, as a major draw.

“Most of my family members are using Apple, so the family package sounds like a good deal, since we are already in the Apple ecosystem,” said product designer Liau Jian Wei.

Management consultant Natalie Lee said she would rather subscribe to Apple Music because she is more familiar with iTunes. “Apple Music has that clean and slick iTunes music interface that Apple users find familiar,” she said, adding she liked that she could watch music videos on the app. “It also allows users to select genres and artistes we like, and recommends music accordingly.”

But does Apple Music really have an edge over other streaming apps, especially Spotify — arguably the market leader in the music streaming business? With more than 75 million active users and more than 20 million paying subscribers in over 58 markets, Spotify will be incredibly difficult to beat.

“We know better than anyone what they like, and what they want to hear,” said Sunita Kaur, Managing Director (Asia) at Spotify. “Our free music tier is unrivalled and unique. A lot of people want to try streaming before they subscribe, and for many, three months just isn’t enough. We’ve found that over time, people are willing to pay, once they’ve had time to play around with the service, build playlists and share music with friends.”

Spotify offers free, ad-supported streaming, as well as a premium, ad-free tier that costs S$9.90 a month and comes with perks such as higher-quality audio, unlimited skips and offline listening. Spotify’s two billion playlists are a feature many users agreed is its main attraction.

Neuroscientist Joses Ho found the lag when downloading music for offline listening on Apple Music’s app “palpable”, compared with Spotify. “Spotify’s lengthy, curated playlists have, for me, churned out deep audio gold that I wouldn’t have unearthed on my own. If Apple wants to win the war, it needs to allow people to port their Spotify playlists over to Apple Music. ‘World-exclusive MTVs’ just don’t cut it in a post-YouTube world,” he said.

“I’m too used to Spotify. All my playlists are there and I’ve downloaded all the tracks so I can listen to them offline,” said data scientist Syafiq Rahman, who had tried Apple Music before returning to Spotify Premium: “I don’t get (Apple Music’s) unique selling point. It’s not as simple as it could be and not intuitive. You have tabs at the bottom that show everything, except how to search for music.”

It will also be interesting to see how streaming services woo big-name musicians, who will undoubtedly be able to influence fans.

“The only reason I am on Apple Music is because of Taylor Swift,” said commercial operations specialist Esther Ang, referring to the American pop superstar’s decision to place her hit album 1989 on Apple Music, after pulling all her music from Spotify last year.

Ang said she would continue with her premium membership with Spotify, because she believes the latter is more user-friendly. “Spotify has a super-large following, which is great for my playlists, which are updated once every few days.”

One thing is for sure, music lovers now have more options to look forward to in the future, even if it remains to be seen whether Apple Music will be able to work out its kinks in the coming months and convince more users — including those who haven’t yet jumped on the streaming bandwagon — to pay for its service.

In the meantime, we can all enjoy Apple Music’s free trial, Spotify’s free streaming service and other apps before we pledge our allegiance. Or just go back to the good old days of CDs and vinyl.

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