For years, the Spotify algorithm was the reason why millions of people have opened their candidacy every day. Lists such as “weekly discovery” or the “news radar” seemed to know us better than us. It was a simple but powerful promise: Let the platform guide us to discover new songs without looking for them. But the magic has disappeared.
In his career to be profitable, Spotify has sacrificed its greatest treasure. The algorithm gives symptoms of change and it is something that Apple Music could take advantage of. The American is still far from the Swedes in terms of subscribers, but is about to present a functionality which shouts “the users of Spotify, come to me”.
Profitability does not include algorithms
Almost twenty years have taken Spotify to be profitable. The company was born in 2006 and launched the first version of the player in October 2008.
It is difficult to believe that with these figures, the company only obtained advantages, when it finally closed a year with positive figures. More specifically, with 477 million dollars in services. The problem is Which sacrificed along the way To achieve profitability.
One year before the service report, the company launched a series of layoffs which ended 25% of its staff on the street. The platform priorities have changed. Where before there was the discovery of unknown artists, Now there is noise. Literally.
Many users have expressed their Complaints concerning the change of algorithm. Lists such as “weekly discovery” or “news radar” have lost the intelligence that characterized them and now suggests songs which, even if they have moderately justified origin, do not respond to what the user is looking for. And it was the key to these lists.
The best example of this is in John Paul Titlow, a Business Insider journalist who tells how much he recently liked to listen to environmental sounds at night and now, suddenly, in his lists of recommendations, he sees a multitude of environmental noise tracks. Even if I look for them by day …
These are in no case isolated complaints; In Reddit, we can find other similar complaints of one year to this part. If we attach the ends, it seems that there is a clear cause and effect relationship with the dismissal of Glenn McDonaldEngineer responsible for the Spotify algorithm for a decade.
Goodbye to McDonald and the anger of artists
On the other side of the puddle, when Spotify landed in Europe, McDonald founded its own startup in 2008, Echo Nest. It would not take long to win the reputation to offer a data analysis platform for music radio stations, because its Fairly precise algorithm in detecting styles and songs that listeners could like.
Known to this platform and knowing that its algorithm should improve, Spotify signed McDonald in 2014 to make him Alma Mater of his algorithm. It is with him that the recommendations lists that we appreciate for years and that now, after his dismissal at the end of 2023 with 1,500 other workers have arrived.
Recommend environmental noise in algorithmic lists Also his explanation in lower costs. Many of these generic sounds are produced by companies that simulate artists, which allows the company to pay less gift rights.
Artists are not eitherBecause in addition to being immersed in an unwanted fight with generic sounds, the requirements to be able to obtain advantages have also increased, because Spotify will no longer pay gifts before reaching 1,000 views.
Apple Music, tracks with a new tool
The user gap according to which Spotify maintains compared to Apple Music has never been so large. According to Statita Data, the Apple platform closed 2024 with around 100 million users (98.2). It is far from nearly 500 million Spotify, but despite this, they do not seem ready to abandon the battle.
Apple Music could try to get income in this type of reputation crisis that Spotify lives with its algorithm and for that They prepare a function with which to facilitate movement more than ever. And above free and entirely integrated into the application.
Speaking from Spotify lists to Apple Music requires the use of third part -part tools which, although functional, have not always been fast enough. Consequently, the platform finalizes a native tool with which Transfer lists of any platform. Something like “displacement to iOS” to go from Android to the iPhone, but applied to its music service.
This tool It is launched in a staggered mannerStarting with Australia and New Zealand, according to Apple itself on its website. It is expected that in the coming weeks and months, the global deployment will begin and, then, subtract an excuse from the Spotify user not to pass.
Apart from that, Apple Music tries to face its great rival with the features such as loss without loss that Spotify promised years ago and that, despite rumors, it still does not happen and when it aims to be a subscription. In Apple Music, it is available in any plan for an additional cost, being able to get it even cheaper with packages such as Apple One.
Apple’s approach is different from Spotify, whose streaming musical platform is its only livelihood. Apple deals with its musical service as a plus in its conglomerate and, at least for the moment, it does not seem to be wrong. In addition, he has accumulated files in income in this area for several years and in the last quarter, he marked a new stage during growth of 14% over a year.
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