Digital Records

D I G I T A L R E C O R D S

BY: LUCY MURPHY

The tame conflict about the best way to enjoy music has plagued Austin locals for years. However, as digital music became more popular, this debate evolved into the gruelling question: WHAT STREAMING SERVICE IS BETTER?

Following a servey taken by multiple Austin residents, data was collected and dipslayed how music is spread in the “Live Music Captial of the World.”

“Spotify is a digital music, podcast, and video service that gives you access to millions of songs and other content from creators all over the world.” - Spotify Launched in 2008 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, Spotify is one of the world’s most popular audio streaming service with over 400 million users. It features over 82 million tracks, including podcasts. “Apple Music is a streaming service that allows you to listen to over 90 million songs. Its features include the ability to download your favorite tracks and play them offline, lyrics in real time, [...] new music personalized just for you, and many more.” - Apple Music Apple Music was launched in June of 2015 and was developed as a product of Apple Inc. It is available in over 167 countries. “With YouTube Music, you can listen to the latest hits, stay connected to artists you love, and discover new music to enjoy on all of your devices.” - YouTube Music YouTube Music was launched in 2015 and was developed as a part of YouTube, a subsidy of Google. YouTube itself has over 2.3 billion members, with YouTube Music having over 40 million premium subscribers.

Information courtesy of Spotify Information courtesy of Apple Music Information courtesy of YouTube Music and BusinessofApps

AMAZON MUSIC

“[Amazon Music] features 2 million songs — including thousands of stations and top playlists — plus millions of podcast episodes.” - Amazon Music Amazon Music was launched in 2007 as a subisdy of Amazon. Amazon Music is included without ads for free with an Amazon Prime membership, and currently has over 55 million subscribers. SOUNDCLOUD PANDORA

“As the world’s largest music and audio platform, SoundCloud lets people discover and enjoy the greatest selection of music from the most diverse creator community on earth.” - SoundCloud SoundCloud was launched in 2008 and has gained over 76 million members since its launch. Multiple artists have posted their music on SoundCloud in order to build up their platform and promote new music. “Pandora, a subsidiary of SiriusXM, is the largest ad-supported audio entertainment streaming service in the U.S.” - Pandora Launched in early 2000, Pandora has been one of the top choices of music streaming services in the Untied States. While it’s not available in other countries outside of the U.S., as of 2021 Pandora has over 55 million active monthly members.