Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

Can Apple Ever Catch Up in Streaming Music?

By

Image used under license from Shutterstock.com

Spinning Christmas tunes last night through our Sonos made me wonder how Apple missed this huge opportunity. Looks like they’re trying to pick up their game with the acquisition of Shazam. Too little too late? Spotify, a small company that seemingly came out of nowhere has been able to amass 60 million streaming subscribers. Meanwhile, Apple, creator of the iPod and the unrivaled master of MP3s sat on its hands while streaming music proliferated. Now it’s playing catch up, with 30 million subscribers, Apple is well behind. Tripp Mickle writes that Apple may be able to use Shazam to close the gap:

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

The acquisition gives Apple ownership of an app that helps users identify unfamiliar songs. Users are often directed to listen to those songs at Apple Music or Spotify, helping those services possibly reach new subscribers. Such referrals could help Apple boost the number of subscribers to its streaming-music service from its current 30 million. Spotify AB says its service has 60 million paid subscribers.

Shazam, which made its debut as an app in 2008, also gives Apple access to extensive data and insight on people’s musical interests. It has been able to use its insights in the past to predict the “songs of summer,” insights gleaned from user searches that could help Apple put together playlists for streaming-music subscribers.

“If you have the direct integration of Shazam as part of Apple, and people find out what a song is [by] using Apple, then they go buy it using Apple. It creates a full ecosystem,” said Brian Zisk, the executive producer of the SF MusicTech Summit, an annual conference.

Read more here.

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)

Recent Posts from YourSurvivalGuy.com

Are Investors Ready to Pounce?

Investors waiting to pounce? Not buying it. They finally have rates they can sink their teeth into. They’re in no rush to take on more risk. At least, that’s not what they’re telling me. In The Wall Street Journal, Jack Pritcher suggests investors are looking for more risk. He writes: Stocks and bonds have surged […]

Disney Signals Problems with the ESG Agenda

You have read about Disney’s war against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and parental rights. Now, it appears that Disney is realizing the error of getting involved in America’s culture wars in order to boost its ESG rankings. Johnathan Turley writes in The Hill: In recent filings, Disney appears to acknowledge that Smith’s invisible hand is […]

Biden Gave Americans 10 Years of Inflation in Only 3

Americans have endured a decade’s worth of inflation during the three years Joe Biden has lived in the White House. Bloomberg’s Reade Pickert and Jennah Haque report on the cost-of-living squeeze Americans are suffering through today, writing: After years of inflation, US consumers are shouldering a burden unlike anything seen in decades — even as […]

Happy Black Friday

You know how Your Survival Guy feels about money: save a third, spend a third, pay taxes with a third. Well, today, let’s focus again on the spending. One of the best ways to keep you motivated and in the game is to take some trips every now and then. Life Comes at You Fast. […]

Which Jimmy Buffett Album Is Your Favorite?

This year, America lost one of its best-loved musicians, Jimmy Buffett. Over his career, Buffett released 32 albums, and Al Shipley at SPIN Magazine has ranked them, writing: Shortly before his death in September at the age of 76, Buffett finished his 32nd studio album Equal Strain on All Parts, backed by his longtime Coral Reefer […]

More Americans than Ever Own Guns

You have probably heard the phrase “voting with your wallet.” When it comes to the Second Amendment, that’s exactly what Americans are doing. More Americans own guns than at any time since polls began back in 1999. Today, 52% of Americans report owning a gun or living in a household that owns a gun. Alexandra […]

Happy Thanksgiving!

When the pilgrims of the Mayflower landed, many of the men signed the Mayflower Compact, which read: In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc. […]

Preparing You and a Loved One for Thanksgiving

Your Survival Guy’s here to help you prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. Not with the turkey, stuffing, or desserts but with the conversation. We all know the third rails of holiday conversation: religion, politics, and money. And not in any particular order. I think politics and religion have worn everyone out and are only brought up […]

The Next Ronald Read? Save Til It Hurts

You read the story of Ronald Read in Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report. The Brattleboro, VT gas station attendant amassed an $8 million portfolio of investments by the time of his death in 2015 at age 92. While Read was stacking stock certificates on the west bank of the Connecticut River, just across the Brattleboro […]

Americans Don’t Think Inflation Is Over

Despite a noticeable easing of tensions over inflation on Wall St., Main Street Americans are not convinced that the end of rapid inflation has actually arrived. Bloomberg’s Reade Pickert reports: US short-term inflation expectations climbed to a seven-month high in November and longer-run price views remained at levels not seen since 2011. Americans expect prices […]

“Inflation Is Killing Me,” He Said, “No It’s…”

“Inflation is killing me,” he said. “No, it’s not,” I said. “You have income coming into your account, a sizable portfolio, and yes, maybe asset prices are off, but the cash flow is solid.” Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free. The cost of everything has been up, […]

How Low Can Home Sales Fall?

Your Survival Guy is watching as existing home sales hit levels last seen during the aftermath of the housing crisis. Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free. According to the hopeful economists at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales will rise next year by 13.5%, and mortgage […]

Can AI Survive Humanity?

The advancement in artificial intelligence has been one of the year’s most popular stories among both the media and on Wall St. At the front of the story has been Sam Altman and his company, OpenAI. In just a few days, Altman has been fired, rehired, and fired again, and hired by Microsoft, along with […]

Retirement Income: We All Want It, We All…

Retirement income. We all want it. We all need it. How do we get it? Well, dear reader, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s start with bonds. My feeling about them is once you get to age 50 or so, if you don’t already have them, then you need to get some. Your Survival […]

Biden’s Cure for Climate Change Is More Inflation

Joe Biden’s stay in the White House has been stained by the worst inflation Americans have seen in decades. Now, he’s doing what he can to make it even more expensive for Americans. The Washington Examiner’s editors report: The rate at which prices are rising has slowed somewhat, but prices are still going up. The […]