Who pays musicians better, Apple or Spotify?

There is no doubt that the Spotify is a music streaming giant. THE Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), it is another giant chasing the podium by far, but it has some trump cards, which may be more attractive, depending on who works with both services. The question was made clear by a producer who did the math and showed them side by side. Spotify is much bigger, but does it pay more than Apple?

This is an old war, which puts side by side the two biggest services in this market that has grown immensely in recent years. One has more customers, but the other has a lot more money. The question remains, which one will be the most “cheap”?

Music streaming services have helped to nearly eradicate music piracy. They brought quality and usability without the user having to pay a single euro. This is the focus of Spotify which, according to recent data, already has more than 400 million users, of which 162 million pay the premium service.

Apple, which has not shared any information on the number of users for a few years, should have, according to estimates, around 78 million subscribers. In this case, it should be almost the total number, since Apple only has a paid plan and a temporary plan (3 months free trial). So payers Spotify will have around 162 million and Apple 78 million.

• What is the best music streaming platform for artists?

The price of subscriptions to streaming music services has a double reading. On the one hand, there is the price we pay for the service, but on the other hand, there is the value that artists receive when we listen to theirs. A figure that changes radically between Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and others.

Information that is not exactly public, although in the case of Apple it is, but that we can, roughly speaking, deduce from the income that artists receive. This is exactly what producer L.Dre talks about, and he offers us a very interesting look at what the streaming landscape is like for those who fill their catalogs with content.

In this video, L.Dre shows hard numbers. One song, with 4,7 million streams on Apple Music, earns him $24.200. Meanwhile, another song, with 4,5 million streams on Spotify, earns him $11.683, less than half the amount paid by Apple.

Yes, there is an abysmal difference when it comes to monetizing the works that artists upload, sometimes directly, sometimes through publishers, to streaming services.

As you may remember, last year Apple published a letter to artists about Apple Music, which stated that on average they paid a royalty of one cent per play.

He also stated that by 2020, the number of artists earning more than $50.000 a year from Apple Music had doubled. Numbers that Apple proudly cites in paying artists on its streaming service their share, and which are very different from other competing figures.

If we look at the numbers shared by L.Dre, Spotify pays less than a third of a cent, namely $0,0026 per stream. In this case, the Apple pays $0,0051 per stream, double the amount🇧🇷 An abysmal difference in what artists receive. To this we have to add that, through the producers/publishers, these numbers can be even lower.

The reasons for these differences – averaged $0,01 on Apple Music versus $0,0033 on Spotify – are not clear. We can speculate that the free, ad-supported Spotify plan isn't as lucrative as it should be, but little else.

What is clear is that Apple has always had a very special relationship with music. We can't forget what he did with the iPod, with iTunes, or even what Steve Jobs did for the industry. Remember the words of David Ellefson of the band Megadeth, he said that “Steve Jobs saved the music business”.

Well, it is no coincidence that Apple bets on this segment. In fact, a few weeks ago, it was news that the Apple Music platform had surpassed 100 million songs available. A number that, without a doubt, is largely due to the offer of advantageous conditions for artists who contribute to Apple's catalogue.

• The war has many fronts and it is growing

The music streaming war seems to be on, especially now that Amazon Music is included with Amazon Prime, which represents even tougher competition for Spotify.

Given the number of options, it wouldn't be surprising if artists decided to prioritize more advantageous services when it comes to monetizing their works. We, as users, can talk about the prices of Apple Music and other services, but the other side of the coin also has a lot to say.

After all, now you pay to listen to music and these services are everywhere, such as smartphones, smartwatches, smart speakers, cars, computers, TVs... among other devices.