Apple usually manages to get its rivals in a tizzy whenever it launches a new product, be it an iPhone or Apple Music, for that matter.
With Apple Music set to be available come June 30, one presumes that rival music streaming service Spotify would be feeling the heat. Apparently not, or so Spotify's CEO Daniel Ek would like us to believe.
Ek has downplayed the impending threat from Apple Music and says the market is big enough to accommodate everybody. There's room for everyone and Spotify need not be numero uno to be a contender, he says. Ek is happy if Spotify is in the top three.
"To me it is enough to be among the top three," said Ek in an interview. "But right now we have an advantage of being the No. 1 in music," he added, and said Spotify would persevere to hold onto the spot.
Sweden-based Spotify has steadily seen a growth in revenue. In 2014, Spotify's revenue grew 45 percent to over 1 billion euros, about $1.12 billion USD. Spotify also posted an operating loss of 165 million euros, or about $185 million USD.
Apple Music, which was announced at WWDC 2015, is similar to Spotify in many ways. However, Spotify has an advantage of a wider music library when compared with newbie Apple Music. It also has loyal subscribers, counting more than 20 million subscribers and more than 75 million active users, about double the numbers a year ago. However, all that may change as Apple is looking to lure people with a free trial of three months vis-à-vis 30 days offered by Spotify, which is ample time to get people to convert to the new service.
If Apple Music manages to strike a note with people, then Spotify could well have a problem on its hands, as Apple will look to wrest away its title of the best music streaming service.
While Spotify's CEO may try not to make their discomfort too apparent, the fact that Ek posted a tweet that read "Oh ok" only to delete it later post-announcement of Apple Music, is an indication in itself.
Photo: Sorosh Tavakoli | Flickr
