Battle of the Music Services

While there are a lot of differences in the way that Apple Music and Spotify operate, I thought it would be interesting to see how these two competing music services decide to differentiate themselves. Both of these billboard ads were present in the December 2017 skyline of Los Angeles, giving us a perfect idea of how Spotify and Apple Music represent themselves to the same audience at the same time. The most apparent and contrasting difference between these two ads is their color choices. While Apple went for a sleek black that could contrast the white font and while app icon, Spotify chose to use colors significant to the artist they were featuring, in this case pink, and they contrasted it with the black font and logo thats iconic to their app. This color choice shows a clear difference in the way these apps think about themselves. While Apple Music is trying to sell the aesthetic and luxury that Apple products inherently have, Spotify is more interested in selling a personality and connecting to their users through the music on the app.

Apple is interested in reaching the Los Angeles residents that are already wearing AirPods, have an iPhone, and like the certain level of clout that comes with being involved in the Apple family. Spotify does not have an already integrated user base to reach, so instead they hope that users will be intrigued by the risqué nature of an ad that says "NSFW", or that users will already have an interest in Blackbear, and their appreciation for the artist will turn into appreciation for the app. While I think both of these ads definitely show brand personality, it also reinforces why I personally use Spotify.