Spotify vs. Apple Music Statistics – Which is Better? (2025)

Introduction

Spotify vs. Apple Music Statistics: Spotify and Apple Music are two of the top music streaming services worldwide. Both offer millions of songs, custom playlists, and special features. Spotify is ahead in terms of total users and smart playlist suggestions using advanced technology.

On the other hand, Apple Music stands out for its sound quality, smooth connection with Apple products, and exclusive content from artists. By looking at the latest numbers like subscriber totals, market share, revenue, and user activity, we can better understand “Spotify vs. Apple Music Statistics- Which is better?”.

Editor’s Choice

• As of early 2025, Spotify has 239 million premium subscribers worldwide, keeping its lead over Apple Music regarding user count.
• In 2024, Apple Music earned USD 9.2 billion, a 10.84% increase from 2023. It also comprised about 6.4% of Apple’s total Services income (USD 85.1 billion).
• Apple Music gives users Hi-Res Lossless audio (up to 24-bit/192 kHz) and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, which creates a surround sound feel.
• Spotify offers audio up to 320 kbps, but its high-fidelity (HiFi) feature has yet to be released.
• At top quality (320 kbps), Spotify uses about 144 MB per hour.
• Apple Music uses around 112 MB per hour at 256 kbps, making it more data-friendly for those who stream often.
• Spotify also includes a Duo Plan for two users living at the same address, which Apple Music does not provide.
• Streaming plans affect how royalties are split with musicians — for example, student plans may count as 0.5x, while family plans may count as 1.75x in payout calculations.
• Both services share money with music rights owners using a 70/30 model — 70% goes to artists and labels, and 30% stays with the platform.
• In Q2 2024, Spotify made about €456 million (~USD495 million) from ads, showing growth in its free (ad-supported) tier.
• In 2023, Spotify’s ad-supported income reached €1.681 billion, showing the strength of its ad business.
• Bruno Mars is #1, with over 146 million monthly listeners.
• The Weeknd and Taylor Swift also remain among the top artists in monthly streams.

Spotify vs Apple Music Difference Chart

Spotify vs Apple Music Market Share Statistics

#1. Apple Music Market Statistics

• Apple Music ranks second as the most demanded Music Streaming platform in the United States, with an almost 30.7% market share.
• According to the current survey, conducted in June 2024, Apple Music has already covered Amazon Music’s subscriber base.
• Amazon Music is the most favored Music streaming platform after Spotify, holding 36% of the music streaming subscriber base.

(Reference: demandsage.com)

• The above pie chart shows the music streaming market’s distribution by the subscribers’ share.”

#2. Spotify Market Share Statistics

• Spotify has a leading position in the global music streaming market, with a 31.7% share of active subscribers.
• Spotify’s subscriber base is more than twice that of Tencent Music, its second-biggest competitor, with 14.4% of the market share.
• Spotify has already passed the major platforms like Apple Music with 12.6% and Amazon Music with 11.1%.

Spotify vs Apple Music Subscriber Statistics

• According to a recent survey by Digital Music News, Spotify has more than 50 million active subscribers in the United States, whereas Apple Music has 42 million active subscribers.
• Of Apple Music’s total, 19.1 million are conventional individual active subscriptions, with almost 1.73 million coming from packaged Apple One subscriptions, including Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and iCloud at a discounted cost.
• Spotify’s subscriber count of 50+ million includes people using Family, Duo, and Student plans. These plans affect the amount of money paid in music royalties, based on special rates set by the MLC and publishers.
• For example, some publishers count each Family plan as 1.75 users when calculating payouts, while Student plans may only count as 0.5 users. These adjustments help determine how much Spotify pays in royalties.

(Reference: softonic.com)

• In the chart above, we can see the subscriber count for Spotify and Apple Music.
• In a recent lawsuit, the MLC claimed that Spotify’s bundled music plans, with their built-in royalty discounts, led to about USD 150 million in lost royalties annually.
• Last year, the NMPA reported that Spotify had 44.4 million subscribers in the US, while Apple Music had 32.6 million.

(Reference: softonic.com)

• The above chart shows Spotify’s premium subscribers.
• Spotify held around 38% of the US digital music streaming market, using the main platforms mentioned during a member meeting.
• More detailed 2024 subscriber info for other services like Amazon Music is still being collected, so updated market share numbers are expected soon.
• The latest earnings report shows that Spotify has 239 million paying users worldwide across all plan levels.

Spotify vs Apple Music Demographic Statistics

#1. Apple Music Statistics

• Radioactive media reported, based on Spotify vs. Apple Music Statistics—Which is Better?” that almost 44% of Apple Music users are men and 56% are women.
• According to the survey, a larger share of women users wish to use Apple Music than male users.

• Most Apple Music users (45%) are between 25 and 44 years old, and 23% are between 25 and 34.
• People between 25 and 34 and 55+ wish to use Apple Music for the next generation. Such age groups have almost 23% of Apple Music’s share in the US.
• Music streaming users between 45 and 55 years old wish to use Apple Music compared to the other age groups.

#2. Spotify Statistics

• Gen Z and Millennials influence Spotify, with almost 55% of people between 16 and 34 using it.
• Drive research reported based on Spotify vs. Apple Music Statistics – Which is Better?” that just 11% of the people using Spotify are between 45 and 55 years old.

(Reference: bloggerspassion.com)

• Around 26% of Spotify users are male, and 44% are female:

Data Consumption on Apple Music vs Spotify Statistics

• Both Apple Music and Spotify let you choose different sound quality levels, which change how much mobile data you use. Higher quality gives better sound but uses more data. Here’s an easy explanation:

Spotify Sound Quality & Data Use

• Low (24 kbps): About 10 MB per hour
• Normal (96 kbps): Around 40 MB per hour
• High (160 kbps): Roughly 72 MB per hour
• Very High (320 kbps): Up to 144 MB per hour

Listening for 10 hours at the highest setting can use about 1.44 GB of data.

Apple Music Sound Quality & Data Use

• Low (64 kbps): Uses about 28 MB per hour
• Medium (128 kbps): About 56 MB per hour
• High (256 kbps): Around 112 MB per hour

Streaming for 10 hours at the top setting can use around 1.12 GB of data.

Spotify vs. Apple Music: Which Uses More Data?

• At the best quality, Spotify uses more data than Apple Music.
• Apple Music is more data-friendly and high-quality.
• Both apps let you change quality settings to help save data, which is helpful if you’re on a limited plan.

Spotify vs Apple Music Sound Quality Statistics

Apple Music sound quality statistics

• Standard Quality: Apple Music streams at 256 kbps using the Advanced Audio Coding format, which delivers crisp and clear sound.
• Lossless Audio: Apple Music offers lossless music streaming up to 24-bit/48 kHz, providing a deeper listening experience. For people who care a lot about sound quality, Hi-Res Lossless audio is available with top-quality sound up to 24-bit/192 kHz. But to hear this clearly, you’ll need extra equipment like a digital-to-analogue converter (DAC)
• Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos: Apple Music gives you a more realistic, 3D sound effect on supported headphones and devices. It makes the music clearer and more detailed, so it feels like the sound is coming from all around you.

Spotify sound quality statistics

• Standard Quality: Spotify streams at various bitrates that depend on the user’s settings and subscription:
• Low: Almost 24 kbps
• Normal: Almost 96kbps
• High: Almost 160 kbps
• Very High: Almost 320 kbps(Available for premium subscribers)
• Spotify HiFi: Spotify has announced its plans to launch a HiFi tier that offers lossless, CD-quality audio.

Spotify vs Apple Music- Most Streamed Artist

Apple Music

• Taylor Swift is the most searched artist on Apple Music.
• The following table displays the most-streamed artists on Apple Music:

Spotify Music

• As of January 2025, Bruno Mars holds the top spot on Spotify, with about 146.53 million monthly listeners.
• Right after him is The Weeknd, who made history as the first artist to go over 100 million monthly listeners. He’s now in second place with around 116.99 million listeners each month.
• Taylor Swift became the first woman and only the second artist overall to hit that same milestone. Billie Eilish was the third person to reach 100 million and is also the youngest artist.
• Here’s a quick table showing the most popular artists on Spotify based on their monthly listener counts:

Spotify vs Apple Music Pay-Per-Stream Statistics

Apple Music Statistics

• On average, Apple Music pays almost USD 0.01 per stream.
• The exact number of pay per stream can differ from artist to artist and depend on various factors.
• Here is a table that displays the pay-per-stream of the top music streaming service.

Spotify Statistics

• Spotify’s pay per stream is around USD0.003 and USD0.005 per play.
• The following is the estimate of Spotify’s streaming payout to artists that is based on the data:

• Spotify’s payments to artists can change depending on the listener’s country and the type of currency used.
• Usually, Spotify uses a revenue split of 70/30, meaning 70% of the money from each stream goes to the people who own the rights (like the artist or music label), and Spotify keeps 30%.
• Even though the amount paid per stream is small, it can still be substantial for artists with a huge fan base and millions of monthly listeners.

Spotify vs Apple Music Regional Statistics

Spotify

• Europe is the biggest Spotify user, making up almost 27% of its monthly active users.
• Europe holds a huge share, 38% of the subscribers, whereas North America holds 18%.
• CNBC media reported, based on Spotify vs. Apple Music Statistics – Which is Better?” that Latin America has almost 22% of users.
• Here is a table showing the distribution of Spotify active users as per region:

Apple Music Statistics

• There are around 33 million Apple Music users and subscribers in the United States.
• The high rate of premium Apple Music users is from the North American region.

(Source: demandsage.com)

Spotify vs Apple Music Revenue Statistics

Shopify Revenue Statistics

• Spotify advertisement support by users adds €1.32 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2024.
• In the third quarter of 2024, revenue from advertisement support users reached €472 million, which reflected a 6% year-over-year increase.
• Spotify made about €456 million (roughly USD495 million) from ad-supported users in Q2 2024, an increase from the €389 million (about USD422 million) it made in Q1 2024. This shows that ad revenue kept growing steadily between quarters.
• In 2023, Spotify earned around €1.681 billion (close to USD1.83 billion) from users who listen to ads. This highlights how strong Spotify’s advertising business has become over time.
• Below is a table that shows Spotify’s yearly ad-supported revenue:

Apple Music Revenue Statistics

• Based on estimates from total music streaming income, Apple Music earned around USD 9.2 billion in revenue.
• This made up 6.4% of Apple’s overall Services revenue, which was USD85.1 billion.
• The USD 9.2 billion in earnings marked a 10.84% increase compared to the year before. In comparison, Apple Music made about USD 8.3 billion in 2022 and USD 7 billion in 2021, showing steady yearly growth.

(Reference: demandsage.com)

Conclusion

By 2025, Spotify will remain top of music streaming, with almost 239 million paid users. Its advertisement support side is also growing fast, bringing in almost USD 495 million in revenue in Q2 of 2024. Meanwhile, Apple Music brought in about USD 9.2 billion in revenue, a 10.84% growth from the last year. It also comprises 6.4% of all the money Apple made from its service division.

Spotify stands out for its huge user base, more plan options, and wider availability. Conversely, Apple Music concentrates on higher sound quality and works smoothly on all devices. We have covered all the essential points through “Spotify vs Apple Music Statistics – Which is Better?