Remember when you first bought your disk player or even older, your tape player? Well, with the first iPod launched in 2001, you can play thousands of songs with one small sized techy item. Now, it’s time for online streaming platform to rise. Spotify and Apple Music have competed to be the best music player in history with tons of musics at the tip of every smartphone or laptop for that matter.
Spotify & Apple Music
With an online subscription plan launching end of 2020 that grants you access to all apple online products in just a giffy, it promises to bring movie and music to every Apple user. Apple is indeed cool. But let’s deep dive into his biggest fear: Spotify.
Spotify launched in 2008 with a simple goal: bring every artist’s new album at the top of every smartphone in the universe. It’s powerful and amazingly cool. Here are some features that get Spotify way ahead of any online music streaming app:
Discover weekly. The Discover Weekly playlist might be my favorite thing about Spotify. Each Monday, Spotify delivers 30 songs it thinks I might like.
Shazam synchronisation. If you connect the Shazam app to Spotify, each of your Shazam will be saved to a new playlist in Spotify called My Shazam Tracks. You can also do the same for SoundHound.
All-in-one streaming. You can listen to a podcast or hear your favorite book straight from your Spotify account.
One price for all. Anywhere you are in the world, Spotify offers a one plan-only policy that lets you play unlimited music with no interruptions whatsoever.
New artists space. Spotify have recently launched its new update making any new artist famous in a blink of an eye.
Drive safely. You can get Spotify controls right in your mapping app interface, if your mapping app of choice is Google Maps or Waze. It means you don’t need to switch to and from Spotify to control your tunes while you’re navigating somewhere in the car.
Daily playlists. In case you haven’t been paying attention to the personalised playlists that Spotify serves up for you lately, take note of the Your Daily Drive mix that was recently introduced: It’s designed specifically for your commute or the school run, with a mix of music and short podcasts.
Mute artists you hate. On various occasions, Spotify will pick your music for you, whether that’s through an endless radio station or through one of the algorithm-based playlists that it serves up on a regular basis. If there’s a particular artist you’re sick of hearing, you can stop them from appearing again—though this feature is only available on iOS at the time of writing.
Lyrics. Spotify shows lyrics but only for select songs. Tap the Now Playing bar at the bottom of the app to expand it and you might see a Behind the Lyrics interface that shows you the lyrics of the current song playing along with other info about the song and band. If you don't get the Behind the Lyrics treatment for a song, you can use SoundCloud to fill in the gaps.
Social media. With a song on screen in Spotify, tap the three dots to the top right, then choose Share and pick either Snapchat (where you can send a clip directly to a friend or post it to Stories) or Instagram Stories. These options only appear if you have the apps installed on your phone.
Private sessions. On occasion, I need to hear some Whitney Houston. I'm not ashamed to say this, because Whitney's voice might be proof of the existence of a higher power, and I say this as an atheist. Whitney is not a guilty pleasure, but because Spotify is always monitoring my listening habits for my Discover Weekly playlist, I worry that my love of Whitney might lead Spotify to believe I might want to hear from Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and the like. I do not wish to hear from these two artists or the like, let alone hear from them on anything approaching a weekly basis. So, when I need to get my Whitney fix, I flip on Spotify's private mode to keep Whitney wannabes out of my Discover Weekly playlist.
Minor competitors
Many competitors are hard to pass by. Here is an interesting list:
Deezer is a provider of music streaming services designed to offer personalized music tracks.
Pandora is a music streaming and automated music recommendation service.
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform that enables its users to upload, record, promote, and share their originally-created sounds.
Youtube Music. YouTube is a company that operates a video sharing platform, allowing users to upload, view, and share videos. Now, they are targeting music.
TIDAL is a High Fidelity music streaming service with High Definition music videos and curated editorial.
Macro trend or Micro trend?
Live music
2020 has pressed the pause button on lots of plans, including live music events and festivals. For someone who misses the shivers of real performances, this might be the solution:
Oda brings live music performances to your home with wooded speakers and seasonal performances. The shape of Oda may resemble a home speaker, but within its wooden panels lives a performance space without walls. These speakers are made of simple materials including wood, glass, cotton, and steel. Simply put: They're built like musical instruments. Here’s what lead investor and early user, Alexis Ohanian, has to say “this is an experience you really need to FEEL (not just listen) to believe. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's transcendent. Listening to live performances feels as intimate as if the artist were there and even when you're using the speakers for Spotify, the sounds are goosebump-inducing... so good.” When you can't attend Coachella, you can “Couchella” with Oda. You can expect performances from artists like Arca, Madlib, and Bradford Cox among many more.
With current restrictions on in-person activities and events, we’ve seen a rise in livestream home concerts, and Oda is taking it to the next level with dedicated hardware and exclusive performances.
Here are some other products bringing live music to your home:
CrowdSurf.tv is like channel flipping for live concert videos.
Dope Livestreams curate, well, dope live music to stream.
Endlesss Studio is a live collaborative music studio and social network.
SYQEL turns your house party or casual hangout into a fully immersive experience.
CoronaLive curates high-quality live streams to enjoy during the lockdown.
Other kind of trends
Many trends have emerged that can’t be missed:
🔈 Alexa or Siri. Yes, they emerged bringing home more connected to your apps such as streaming services.
📽 Netflix. Online streamings like Netflix, Disney+, Apple Movies, Amazon Prime, … are excellent to disrupt the dying movie industry.
Podcasts. With Spotify or Apple Music, it’s easier to listen to your favorite podcasts and it’s easy to create one too!