I left Spotify for Apple Music. Here’s why.

This might be the ninth time. Sabrina Carpenter’s hit single “Please, Please, Please” automatically playsI decided it was time to quit Spotify. I’d been a devoted user since the company started offering Premium in the US in 2011, obsessively collecting my own playlists. But come on, I could only take so much.

Spotify raised its prices in July This is the second time in two years.. While the price increase was one of the reasons I quit, it wasn’t the whole story. Basically, Spotify started to annoy me. Concert ads popped up without warning, and I couldn’t find a way to turn them off, which annoyed me. The app also didn’t work as well as it used to. It would freeze sometimes, had trouble playing music through my headphones, and almost never connected to my Sonos speakers when I wanted it to. These are small issues, but they add up, especially when you’re paying for the service. Spotify wants me to pay more!

So I started looking for a new music streaming service, which put me in a difficult position as I tried to understand the streaming entertainment industry in general. If I had understood a little bit about the motivations of these companies, I think I might have made a better choice and maybe even saved some money. I ended up spending more, but I got more than just music from my new subscription.

You see, I fell into the bundling trap. After quitting Spotify, I signed up for Apple One, bundled sale That included several Apple services, including Music and iCloud storage. I ended up giving Apple the money I stopped spending on Spotify, and more. I also got a few services I didn’t really want — like Apple Arcade — though maybe I will want them in the future.

Almost all streaming entertainment companies want you to sign up for a bundle. That doesn’t mean bundles are necessarily bad. The changing landscape of bundles From media companies, phone companies and technology companies It can be confusing, and the bundled subscription may cost you more than you already pay. But if you’re willing to be flexible, you can make the bundle work in your favor. In other words, you can get caught in the bundling trap, but you’ll be able to climb out quickly and be better off.

Bundle Hardly a new strategyThat’s how cable TV worked decades ago: You paid a flat fee and got a cable service that included a bunch of channels you didn’t want. In the streaming age, bundling usually means you pay one price for multiple streaming services, but you can also get services beyond TV, including music and games.

There are a few ways you can get caught in the bundling trap. Like me, you might want one service, like Apple Music, and then opt for the bundle because it’s not much more expensive. You might also want Hulu to watch the latest season of BearBut if you can get access to Disney+ and Max for just a few bucks more, why not give it a try? You can cancel at any time during the month.

“The audience is constantly being pulled,” Anthony Palomba, an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Virginia, told me. “They’re giving the audience too much content.”

Again, this is nothing new. What is new this year, however, is the bundled Getting bigger and more chaoticFor example, in 2019, you can Pay $13 for a bundle That includes Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu, all ad-free. That makes sense, since all three services are owned by Disney. Fast forward to this spring, however, and major media companies are starting to offer bundles that include services beyond their own properties. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery will soon offer Bundled with Disney+, Hulu, and Maxbut they haven’t announced prices yet. Verizon already offers its customers Bundle that includes Netflix and Max with ads Just $10. And don’t forget StreamSaver, a package for Comcast internet customers that includes Peacock, Netflix (with ads), and Apple+ Only $15 per month.

Are you dizzy already?

That’s the plan. Over the past few years, media companies have faced a reckoning: They’ve realized they Can’t spend millions anymore To win new streaming subscribers, as traditional brands like Disney try to catch up to Netflix. These new streaming services need to start making money. On top of that, they have a loyalty problem: many people subscribe to a service, maybe watch a hit show, and then cancel their subscription a month later. I do this for succession For example, you may have done this with your favorite shows on HBO Max (RIP). (Pro tip: If you do this, Don’t forget to cancel.) Churn rates of major streaming services More than doubled Over the past five years, according to research firm Antenna, Multiple studies The company said Customers tend to stay. So confusing or not, bundling is back.

I realize we’ve strayed off from my complaints about Spotify, but the chaos of the streaming video bundle world has spread to the audio world. Since all music streaming services offer the same catalog of songs, each service has to find a way to stand out, and that usually means using additional features or services. For Apple Music included in Apple One, this is usually Its lossless audio products and interoperability with Apple devices. YouTube Music lets you watch music videos for songs with just one tap, and is free with YouTube Premium. Amazon Music is essentially a benefit you get as a Prime member.

“Spotify’s competitors are companies that never had to make money from music or streaming,” said Larry Miller, director of NYU Steinhardt’s music business program. “They use music as a tool to help attract users into their ecosystem.”

In other words, streaming music services are becoming bundled — except for Spotify. Audiobook service Late last year, the platform opened the feature to Premium members. Complained The result is that they get paid less. ) But don’t expect Spotify to launch a Netflix competitor anytime soon. In 2024, paying $12 a month just for music won’t seem the same as it did a decade ago. Since I know that one day I’ll want to watch TV, play video games, or even enjoy some celebrity-narrated fitness classes, why stop at just music? To my surprise, I’ve gotten more than 100 million subscribers thanks to Apple Fitness+. Really enjoyed Dolly Parton’s narration of the walk.

For me, Apple Music was an obvious choice when I got bored with Spotify. The audio quality is definitely better than Spotify, and the app is less glitchy. The fact that I could bundle Apple Music with some of the other Apple services I was already using, especially iCloud storage, sealed my deal. After a few weeks of using the new bundle, I feel pretty good about it. I even canceled Max because I get the streaming video service in Apple TV+. Time will tell if it catches my attention, and if not, I can always try another service or even go back to Spotify. Just remember that given how quickly the industry changes, the service you sign up for today won’t be the same in a month or a year. You can always cancel and choose a different path.

What all this means is that now is the perfect time to be a confident consumer when it comes to spending money on music, TV shows, and movies. When you decide a service you’ve been using is no longer right for you, there’s little downside to cancelling your subscription and spending your money elsewhere. You might even get a free trial.

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