iTunes Radio reportedly the third most popular music streaming service in the US

[Justin Kahn]

Based on a recent study, the now only six month old iTunes Radio is the third most used music streaming service in the US. According to the Edison Research survey, iTunes is behind only Pandora and iHeartRadio at this point.

The Edison study surveyed over 2000 people in the US the past two months and discovered that around 8% used iTunes Radio. Slightly above Spotify, which garnered a 6% share, iTunes Radio sits closely behind iHeartRadio at 9% and significantly back of clear industry leader Pandora with 31%, according to Statista's analysis of the survey.

iTunes Radio launched last spring and quickly garnered a user base of 20 million in about a month. While Apple's streaming service has more than enough room to grow considering the 600 million users the company services through iTunes, Apple's radio service still has a long way to go before it reaches the 70 million users Pandora has captured since its official launch in 2005.

Over the course of January and February, the survey took in responses from 2,023 people that were 12 years of age or older. That doesn't necessarily seem like a very large group and many people likely listen to more than one service at different times, so it is hard to say whether or not the numbers are as telling as they seem.

With services like Spotify showing no signs of slowing, offering unlimited free browser music streaming just ahead of the launch of the new music industry backed Beats service, and Pandora continuing its dominance, it is clear that this will remain a competitive space with multiple options for users for some time

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https://www.techspot.com/news/55956-itunes-radio-reportedly-the-third-most-popular-music-streaming-service-in-the-us.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I've used Pandora and Spotify for internet radio. Spotify has like 18 million tracks to Pandora's 1 million. But those extra 17 million aren't mainstream a lot of the time. What seems to happen to me is, I pick an artist and the service provides stuff like it, but occasionally it would be nice to hear something by that artist. Pandora is much better at this in my experience. Sure, new, unheard of music is nice to be exposed to, but not all the time.

 

[9Nails]

I find it peculiar that you're reporting on the 3rd most popular streaming music service, as sampled by just 2,000 people. I'm not sure why Apple gets the headline here, but news is news I guess.

Like MilwaukeeMike, I'm also a Pandora supporter. I'd say that's it's primarily how I listen music these days. (Aside from a lifetime Sirius subscription that I picked up for my car back in '06.)

 

[treeski]

I've used Pandora and Spotify for internet radio. Spotify has like 18 million tracks to Pandora's 1 million. But those extra 17 million aren't mainstream a lot of the time. What seems to happen to me is, I pick an artist and the service provides stuff like it, but occasionally it would be nice to hear something by that artist. Pandora is much better at this in my experience. Sure, new, unheard of music is nice to be exposed to, but not all the time.

Yeah I have to say, of the services I've tried, Pandora does seem to have the bests algorithms.

 

[Guest]

Lame Apple News.

I'm sure Slacker and Rhapshady are exactly the same at 2%...

I personally use Slacker, and I have for years. No one even knows what iTunes radio is.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Why report on 3rd place? Doesn't Pandora deserve the accolades for being no.1? Who remembers losers anyway?

 

[Ranger12]

Why report on 3rd place? Doesn't Pandora deserve the accolades for being no.1? Who remembers losers anyway?

I think maybe the point is they have only been around for 6 months while Pandora has been around for nearly a decade. Just trying to be optimistic.

I don't care for Apple radio mostly because it is Apple. I haven't actually tried it because I am perfectly happy with Spotify. I am not generally that shallow about decisions I make but the non-conformist in me precludes me from supporting Apple.

 

[SirDigby]

Spotify is 4th? That's really weird considering it is really popular in England. I suppose it only opened recently for America and we've had it since 2008. :3 That is a shame though, Spotify seems like the one music service that is actually on the side of the user.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Yeah I have to say, of the services I've tried, Pandora does seem to have the bests algorithms.

same for me... Seems like a few too many Spotify bands have Raymond as their sound technician.

 

[Panda218]

I primarily use Spotify to listen to music, but that's because I like to be able to download my playlists and listen to them locally (Sprint service sucks in Minneapolis). If I'm looking to stream a radio service I usually go with Pandora as it does a better job with recommendations than Spotify.