6 months after launch, Apple's iTunes Radio already more popular than Spotify
Apple's iTunes Radio has carved out 8 percent of the U.S. streaming music market, placing it ahead of popular service Spotify and just behind second-place iHeart Radio, according to newly released data.
Pandora remains far and away the market leader with a 31 percent share, newly released figures illustrated by Statista, and highlighted by Electronista, showed this week. Coming in second place was iHeartRadio with 9 percent of the market, followed closely by Apple's iTunes Radio.
That places Apple in third place, ahead of Spotify's 6 percent share, the data reveals. Google Play All Access took fifth place with 3 percent, followed by Rhapsody, Slacker, and TuneIn Radio, all of which held an equal 2 percent share.
The figures from Statista are based on a 2014 survey of 2,023 Americans aged 12 and older. They are based on data from the Edison Research annual "The Infinite Dial" radio report.
iTunes Radio launched alongside iOS 7 last September, and quickly reached more than 20 million users by October, having streamed more than a billion songs. iTunes Radio is available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV, plus Mac and PC through iTunes.
Though it was initially limited to users in the U.S., Apple has slowly begun to expand iTunes Radio internationally. The Internet-based streaming radio service is free with ad support, while iTunes Match subscribers can listen ad-free with an annual fee.
Pandora remains far and away the market leader with a 31 percent share, newly released figures illustrated by Statista, and highlighted by Electronista, showed this week. Coming in second place was iHeartRadio with 9 percent of the market, followed closely by Apple's iTunes Radio.
That places Apple in third place, ahead of Spotify's 6 percent share, the data reveals. Google Play All Access took fifth place with 3 percent, followed by Rhapsody, Slacker, and TuneIn Radio, all of which held an equal 2 percent share.
The figures from Statista are based on a 2014 survey of 2,023 Americans aged 12 and older. They are based on data from the Edison Research annual "The Infinite Dial" radio report.
iTunes Radio launched alongside iOS 7 last September, and quickly reached more than 20 million users by October, having streamed more than a billion songs. iTunes Radio is available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV, plus Mac and PC through iTunes.
Though it was initially limited to users in the U.S., Apple has slowly begun to expand iTunes Radio internationally. The Internet-based streaming radio service is free with ad support, while iTunes Match subscribers can listen ad-free with an annual fee.
Comments
256Kbps streaming eats too much data for those with 3gb or 5gb plans, while Pandora or TuneIn allows 64kb (and even lower streams on TuneIn)
People are having to gauge their usage to fit their data caps. I prefer using iTunes Radio and iTunes Match service while at work, so I can discover music without high data use instead of while traveling.
I can't imagine the author would purposefully be misleading.
"thanks"
I can't wait to hear about how this is terrible news for Apple!
Why does headline mention iTunes Match instead of Radio?
Because the iTunes Match subscribers are the paying subscribers of radio maybe?
I tried iTunes Radio before and created a few stations and it was great also but the fact that I can search for an artist and just listen to songs from that artist alone is kind of a deal breaker to choose spotify over iTunes Radio.
There wasn't data supporting iTunes Match ahead of Spotify, or anyone of the others for that matter. The original report had to do with the free iTunes Radio service rather than only those that elected to pay for it to avoid ads.
From the source:
"This is based on active listeners (tuning in more than once a month) rather than paid listeners, which represents a far smaller group. It is difficult to directly compare Pandora to iTunes because of the different business models: iTunes Radio offers unlimited free listening on all devices, but users can avoid ads by signing up for iTunes Match."
With that said one of the compared rivals offers only a paid streaming radio app. Free would nearly always attract more folks than paid.
Why does headline mention iTunes Match instead of Radio?
Because "match" enables the service with no ads or skip restrictions.
I tried it after release but it kept stopping for no apparent reason. I had to completely quit app and restart to get it to play again. Finally just gave up and went back to Pandora. It also would play songs I had blocked an and I just don't think the GUI is as intuitive as Pandora. Pandora also lets you fine tune your stations a lot easier and better and does not repeat songs as much. I might check out iTunes radio again to see if things have improved but I have no complaints with Pandora.
Because "match" enables the service with no ads or skip restrictions.
I have run out of skips with iTunes match - also, you don't get ads but you still get mandatory channels at the top of the list which are kind of ad-like.
1) the former allows you to listen to stream of music and buy songs that one hears within that stream, whereas the latter is very much an on-demand music service, probably more akin to iTunes Store as a whole.
2) The former is an American service that has been on the US Market for nearly six months whereas I was the impression that the latter has only recently secured a license to operate in the US market, but is incredibly popular in Europe.
As the UK still doesn't enjoy the iTunes Radio facility, this comment is not based on any user experience but rather an impression of the current state of play.
Somehow the dumb media will spin it as a loss for Apple like they do with device marketshare.
Because "match" enables the service with no ads or skip restrictions.
iTunes Match does not allow you to have unlimited skips. You're still restricted the same as if you didn't pay. Sucks, I would pay the money to have unlimited skips.
I would much rather use Spotify. iTunes Radio never seems to work right still and I want to choose the music, not it chooses for me and I have to play with this silly skip thing all the time.
Would be nice if they released this outside of the US, after all it has been 6 MONTHS now. Come on Apple, give those that pay more some love.
iTunes Match does not allow you to have unlimited skips. You're still restricted the same as if you didn't pay. Sucks, I would pay the money to have unlimited skips.
I would much rather use Spotify. iTunes Radio never seems to work right still and I want to choose the music, not it chooses for me and I have to play with this silly skip thing all the time.
I have discovered a station on the regular iTunes Internet Radio (pre iTunes Radio), which is so awesome I am not sure I could not create a station that would be as good. It keeps playing music I really like and adds in new stuff. There is something very good about curated music radio.
That’s two votes now that Australia should join the Union. Anyone for a third?