Spotify is urging customers who paid to join its music streaming service through Apple to cancel their subscriptions, as the rivalry between the two companies intensifies following the launch of Apple Music.
In an email to be sent to Spotify customers with iPhones, the company says if users pay through Spotify.com they can save money by stopping Apple from taking a cut.
The Verge reports the email will say: “In case you didn’t know, the normal [Spotify] Premium price is only $9.99, but Apple charges 30% on all payments made through iTunes.” It includes a step-by-step guide to switching. Users have to end their current subscriptions before they can switch.
The launch of Apple Music, the iPhone and computer giant’s foray into music streaming, has seen it set up as a direct competitor to Spotify.
According to industry body the IFPI, the streaming market had more than 41 million paying subscribers in 2014, and a further 100 million accessing free tiers of streaming services such as Spotify.
Until the launch of Apple Music, Spotify was without doubt the largest player in the on-demand audio music streaming market, having recently announced that it has 75 million active users, with 20 million of them paying for its service. While Apple has not released comparable figures, Apple Music is installed automatically on the 40% of iPhones that run the latest software, iOS 8.4, and it is free for the first three months.
Apple Music’s launch has intensified competition with its efforts to secure exclusives on big albums and artist back catalogues. Pharrell Williams debuted his new single on Apple Music for launch, while Taylor Swift made her latest album, 1989, available to stream for the first time on the service, after a stand off with Apple over paying artists.
