A new report from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority on Music streaming suggests that Apple has a share of around 10-20% in music streaming in the country, and that competition between services is working "reasonably well for consumers."
The figures come from the UK CMA's Music and streaming market study, the results of which were published on Tuesday.
According to the report, there are 39 million monthly active users in the UK streaming 138 billion songs a month, describing streaming as now "the primary means for artists and labels to distribute music."
A slice of the pie
According to the CMA's figures, Apple could have a share of anything between 10-20% of monthly active users as of December 2021. That puts it even behind Amazon in the UK and its main rival Spotify which boasts a share of well over half the market (50%-60%).
"Competition between the services, therefore, anchors around offering the best experience to consumers through good design, personalized playlists, and high-quality audio content, as well as through pricing plans. These services also now compete with one another by offering non-music content, such as podcasts," the report states.
The report also reveals that the price of streaming is falling in real terms because prices have not gone up in the face of inflation. It also notes that as the market expands most companies are in the business of finding new users, not getting existing users to switch to their services. The CMA says that in the future it would be a concern if there was not "more vigorous competition between streaming services and enhanced efforts to make it seamless for consumers to switch and port their playlists or musical preferences" to alleviate the loss of playlists and favorites when moving services.
Apple Music remains very much in Spotify's shadow when it comes to market share, but has increased its competitiveness with new high-quality and lossless audio options, as well as a voice-only Apple Music plan that costs just $4.99. Certainly, the service is one of the best iPhone apps for streaming music and works brilliantly across the ecosystem on devices like HomePod mini.
