New JD Power Survey Ranks Apple Music As Number One Music Streaming Service

JD Power conducts a yearly survey on paid music streaming services out there, and in this year’s installment, the marketing firm has named Apple Music as the most dominant. Fresh from reaching 17 million in terms of the number of subscribers in September, Apple’s music streaming offering did really well in JD Power’s study, especially in the areas of performance, reliability, content, and ease of use. Following Apple Music in second place is Rhapsody, followed by Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, Amazon Prime Music, and then Google Play Music.

Based on the results of JD Power’s latest survey, satisfaction appears to be highest among subscribers who were fully engaged, meaning that apart from listening to music tracks, they also went out of their way to share playlists they followed with family and friends. Moreover, JD Power found that exclusive music content combined with relatively easy availability on peripheral devices, such as smartwatch units or smart home speaker systems, had a major impact in how satisfied subscribers are with a particular paid music streaming service.

In conducting its latest survey, JD power had purposely designed its study to look into the satisfaction levels of users subscribers under a paid music streaming service in the last six months. Specifically, the marketing firm looked into six key areas -- namely, performance and reliability, ease of use, cost of service, content, communication, and customer service. Apple Music garnered an overall score of 834 (out of a maximum 1,000 points), and got the highest score in three of the six areas (performance and reliability, content, and ease of use. For comparison, second placer Rhapsody got an overall score of 826, faring really well in terms of cost of service and communication.

As explained by Kirk Parsons, the senior director and technology, media and telecom head at JD Power, the key to becoming a dominant player in the music streaming service is in developing a sustainable music ecosystem that not only offers support for all kinds of devices, but also provide a means for subscribers to get actively involved, either in the following of playlists, but also in recommending such playlists to loved ones or other members of the user’s social circle. 

Other findings by JD Power’s survey include: a) higher satisfaction levels in paid music streaming services compared to free streaming; b) lower satisfaction levels among passive listeners; c) customer advocacy is better when the content is made exclusive; and d) peripheral devices improve the overall listening experience.