The Streaming Music Market is Slowing Down, How Will Apple Music Break Through?

The Streaming Music Market is Slowing Down, How Will Apple Music Break Through?The streaming music market has seen rapid growth in recent years, but this trend seems to be changing. According to Boyd Muir, Chief Financial Officer of Universal Music Group, user growth for streaming platforms like Apple Music has slowed down

The Streaming Music Market is Slowing Down, How Will Apple Music Break Through?

The streaming music market has seen rapid growth in recent years, but this trend seems to be changing. According to Boyd Muir, Chief Financial Officer of Universal Music Group, user growth for streaming platforms like Apple Music has slowed down. Since revealing their user base of 60 million in 2019, Apple has not updated their Apple Music user count. This could mean that the user count has not reached 70 million by 2024.

Besides Apple Music, other streaming platforms like Spotify and Amazon have also seen user growth slow down. Muir believes this has become the industry norm, and the streaming market is no longer a fast-growing area.

Faced with the pressure of slowing user growth, many companies in the industry have begun to lay off employees to cope with economic pressures. However, Muir pointed out that it's hard for a single company to change the overall platform user growth trend alone.

Despite the slowing market growth, Apple remains confident in its streaming service Apple Music. Oliver Schusser, Apple's Vice President, said in an interview with Wallpaper magazine on March 7 that Apple is still introducing new features for Apple Music as industry innovation slows down.

Schusser emphasized that Apple focuses on music while other competitors are shifting towards podcasts and audiobooks. He cited several new features recently launched by Apple Music, including karaoke mode, a dedicated Classical app, spatial audio, and animated lyrics, as proof of Apple Music's innovative advantage.

These new features introduced by Apple Music aim to provide users with a richer musical experience and enhance user engagement. Karaoke mode allows users to sing their favorite songs to their heart's content, the dedicated Classical app offers a more convenient experience for classical music lovers, while spatial audio and animated lyrics enhance the immersion and interactivity of the music.

In addition, Apple is actively collaborating with the music industry to offer users exclusive content and experiences. For example, Apple Music partnered with Universal Music Group to launch a series of exclusive content, including albums and concerts from renowned artists such as Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.

Through continuous innovation and collaboration with the music industry, Apple hopes to maintain its competitive edge in a market environment of slowing user growth and continue to expand Apple Music's user base.

However, Apple Music also faces challenges from competitors like Spotify and Amazon. These competitors have advantages in user numbers, market share, features, and content.

In the future, Apple Music needs to continue to invest in innovation, develop more features and content that attract users, to stay competitive in the fiercely competitive streaming music market.