Spotify and the Power of Defaults

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Google Maps is better than Apple Maps but as of 2015 guess which one is used 3 times as much on iOS devices. Apple Maps. The power of defaults is extraordinary. All Apple Maps has to be is good enough and people don’t feel the need to download a different app. Same story with Apple Music. Spotify launched in 2008 and currently has around 60 million subscribers. Apple Music launched in 2015 and already has 30 million subscribers. This applies on Android as well where Google Play Music is the default. On top of this, Spotify is a product in a vacuum, there is no ecosystem. Apple and Google with the power of ecosystem effects can do things Spotify can’t. Apple’s HomePod will only support Apple Music. A Google Play Music subscription also gives you ad free YouTube videos and offline video playback. Spotify may survive, but not as we know it.

Counter arguments:
• Chrome was not a default IE was. ITunes was not the default Media Player was. Google was not the default, Yahoo, MSN and AltaVista were. Facebook was not the default, MySpace was. Every default is an advantage but also an opportunity.