Music is the essence of inner expression; it soothes the mind and soul. Pop artists greatly influence today’s generation, sifting and tweaking culture, practices and perceptions on a global scale. As such, music has become an integral part of our lives for many of us.
Spotify has successfully changed the way in which consumers engage in listening to music, by offering the relatively new service of live streaming. Because it was one of the first to claim and provide this form of service, it effectively embeds it’s brand image in the minds of its consumers for that said category. On that note, Spotify enjoys the recognition and top tier spot on the ‘ladder’ above it’s contenders (as consumers have already related it’s brand image to ‘streaming services’) Customer perceptions are hard to change once formed, making it difficult for rival contenders to overthrow the current dominant brand.
Apple recognizes that the market is slowly shifting from commercial in app purchases to music streaming and as such is quick to attempt penetrating this new market with it’s own ‘Apple Music’, where in it becomes a contender to Spotify. However with that being said, because Spotify is the first recognized brand to have provided this service, customers are more likely to associate the service with them, and thus in order for apple to gain some sort of footing in the market, it has to coin effective points of differentiation, in addition to it’s points of parities.
Both Apple and Spotify charge a monthly fee of $9.99, providing similar services. However, unlike spotify apple’s ‘Apple music’ does not require another seperate app download for apple users as updating the music app within the device automatically upgrades it to include the ‘Apple music’. It also provides free radio (Beats 1) where Spotify does not. Another recognized difference users have identified is that music by artist tailor swift is only present on Apple Music, and not on spotify
Being new to Spotify myself (despite it launching in 2008), I admit to also being amongst the majority of individuals that recognize Spotify as the first music streaming provider. This mindset is what companies trying to penetrate and gain market dominance over competitors need to take into account when marketing their new product. Being careful to abide by points of parity while at the same time having strong points of differentiation.
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Bib:
1.”What Is Apple Music and How Does It Work?” HowTo Geek RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2015.
2.”Why I Ditched Apple Music for Spotify – CNET.” CNET. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.
3.”Apple Music vs Spotify: What’s the Difference? – CNET.” CNET. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.
Images taken from:
- “Apple Music vs Spotify.” Nerdy Talk RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2015.