Do Apple Music and Apple TV+ Prove or Refute Antitrust Allegations?

As the Apple antitrust lawsuit begins to take shape, we start to look at Apple’s various markets and how Apple’s customers behave within them. Last week we looked at how Apple dominates sales in the Bluetooth earbuds and smartwatch and fitness tracker markets for Apple iPhone buyers with AirPods and Apple Watch.

This week we are going to look at Apple’s Services sector, which has garnered much attention as it grows rapidly and competes with a wide range of media and tech companies. We start with streaming music and video. 

Apple sells streaming music services through Apple Music, competing with Spotify, Pandora, and also Google and Amazon. Apple sells streaming video through Apple TV+, competing with a wide range of providers, including Netflix, Google (YouTube), Amazon, Hulu, and many others. We have data about Apple customers’ use of the different services.

In streaming music, Apple is in the leading position relative to Spotify and Pandora. Over 40% of Apple customers report using Apple Music, compared to 30% for paid Spotify Premium and under 10% for PandoraOne (Pandora’s paid service) (Chart 1).