The ongoing battle between music streaming services has been a source of heated debate since the late 2000s when the first platforms launched. The numbers are in, and the apparent favorite among Denmark students is Spotify. This platform won by a landslide; 76% of Danes voted for Spotify. Apple Music came in second, stealing 16% of the votes. Amazon Music deserves an honorable mention for being the favorite of 4% of voters. The last option on the poll was Other, and 4% prefer streaming services that are not Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music. To an outsider, it may seem like streaming services are irrelevant, but to the music obsessed, these softwares are life, and their variations do matter. The main differences lie in the complimentary features, the app’s accessibility, and its social and personalized aspects. 

Spotify is a streaming service that launched in Sweden in 2008. Its founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon started the project as a way to combat piracy. Spotify offers free access to their music library with a few stipulations: you have to listen to ads, you have six free skips per hour, and you have to listen to playlists on shuffle. With the purchase of a premium subscription, users can enjoy the platform without these restrictions.

One can owe Spotify’s immense popularity to its groundbreaking features. Mahathi Yammada comments that “Though it comes with ads, Spotify offers more for free than the other platforms.” Many are fans of how Spotify playlists work. McKayla Team notes that “it’s just really easy to navigate between music and playlists.” Matea Jurca likes “that you can look up other people’s playlists so you can get ideas and recommendations for music.” Riley Wright explains that with Spotify, “you can find and share custom playlists depending on moods you’re in.” This top music streaming service is adored by many because it can be enjoyed for free, it is user friendly, it has technology that makes curating playlists a pleasurable experience, and it has social aspects that allow users to effortlessly connect with friends.

“Though Spotify has dominated the industry, its position is never secure, and the question hovering in the air is how much longer will it reign?”

Apple Music didn’t launch until 2015 in order to compete with Spotify, but its roots are in the early 2000s with the introduction of its digital media player iTunes. iTunes’ main purpose was to sync music to Apple’s iPod, and it allowed users to purchase and download individual songs or albums. However, Apple Music functions differently. The platform provides full access to Apple’s music library, but it comes with a price. To listen to all of their favorite songs, consumers are required to pay for a monthly or yearly subscription. Without one, only a select number of songs and stations are available.

There are no apparent reasons for liking Apple Music; most people that use the platform only do so because they always have and are now familiar with it. To Apple Music users, Spotify and Amazon Music appear unfriendly and difficult to operate. Many that prefer the service were introduced to it by their families and given the ultimatum of Apple Music or no music. Families feel the platform is cheaper for a group, so they subscribe to a family plan and include their children in it. Danes with Apple Music have grown to love the musical resource, and it is a staple for many devices.

Amazon Music is one of the less popular and well known streaming services, but it actually dates back to 2007, the year before Spotify launched, and eight years before Apple Music. The app offers no complimentary services; payment is required. The options are to get Amazon Music Prime alongside an Amazon Prime subscription or subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited. If a Prime customer uses Amazon Music, they will need to purchase Amazon Music Unlimited to gain full access to the music library; without unlimited, only some songs will be available.

Similarly to Apple Music, Amazon Music users have grown up with the platform. It is a good option for a group of people, so families often gravitate towards this smaller service. A small percentage of Danes have acclimated to Amazon Music and will defend their selection as the best of the best.

The world of music streaming services is unlimited, and people will always have opinions, but there is a clear favorite amongst Denmark Danes. Spotify takes the cake for being user friendly, curating personalized playlists, and providing more free features than other services. Though Spotify has dominated the industry, its position is never secure, and the question hovering in the air is how much longer will it reign?

Sources:

“How Spotify Came to Be Worth Billions.” BBC News, BBC, 1 Mar. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43240886. 

Lamb, Derek. “10 Things You Need to Know about Amazon Music.” Music Gateway, 22 Aug. 2019, www.musicgateway.com/blog/how-to/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-amazon-music.