Spotify and Apple Music are facing increasingly tougher competition from Amazon when it comes to adding new paid subscribers to their services.
Amazon Music Unlimited was the fastest-growing music service over the last year according to new data that shows its subscriber base grew by 70%, even though it launched a year after Apple Music.
Amazon just launched a free streaming music service for its smart speakers. This is further competition for Apple Music and Spotify, who are battling it out in the paid music subscription business.
This service could bring additional pressure for a free Apple Music option.
Drake’s new album Scorpion may not have been well received by all his fans, but that hasn’t stopped it from destroying pretty much every record on Apple Music.
Scorption launched last Friday and quickly became the fastest growing album ever on Apple Music’s chart. Its rise was so meteoric that it became the number one album in 92 different countries almost instantaneously. And Apple didn’t even spam promotions for it like Spotify did.
Jay-Z’s latest album is now available on Apple Music and iTunes. Tidal, the rap star’s own music streaming service, had exclusivity over 4:44 at launch — but that lasted just one week.
It’s not good news for Spotify subscribers, however.
Forget $9.99 per month — Apple might slash the price of Apple Music subscriptions to better compete with streaming music rivals, most notably Amazon.
According to a new report, Apple could drop monthly subscription prices by as much as 20 percent. The Apple Music price drop would mean a regular subscription would cost users around $7.99 per month, while a family package would go for $12.99.
