IPhone Stats + Music Apps

Delivered March 13th, 2018. Contributors: Samantha A., Caitlin T., Justin B. and

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IPhone - Music Services Usage Stats

OVERVIEW

After exhaustive research, we have confirmed that there are no preexisting reports on how many people in Gen Z own an iPhone 6s+ or newer or how many of them have the Spotify music app on their phone. This is because most of the preexisting data is for users of all age groups and genders. Instead, using data on the population demographics of the United States and some of the more general data about iPhone usage and ownership, we were able to estimate that 25.11 million Gen Z (aged 12-24) own iPhone 6s+ or newer and that 6.685 million iPhone users have installed the Spotify music app on their phones. Additionally, 19% of Gen Z in the U.S. have paid subscriptions for Apple Music and 17% of Gen Z in the U.S. have paid subscriptions for Spotify.
NUMBER OF GEN Z IPHONE USERS
Generation Z is becoming known as the iGen. It is the first generation to grow up without the knowledge of a time before the internet and have Instagram accounts before high school. It is still not clear the long term effects this will have on Gen Z. Nor have preexisting reports conducted on how many members of Gen Z actually have an iPhone and how they use it. However, using data about the U.S.’s population demographics and data that has been collected about iPhone ownership and usage for all ages, we are able to estimate that 25.11 million members of Gen Z own iPhones 6s+ or newer. We discuss how we reached this estimation below.

There are 55.8 million people between the ages of 12-24 in the United States. In 2017 a survey of 5000 teenagers was conducted and it was found that approximately 75% of American teens owned an iPhone. The Consumers Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) conducted its own analysis on iPhone ownership for all age groups and found that 24% of iPhone 7 users and 36% of iPhone 6s users own an iPhone 6s+ or newer as of March 2017.

Given this information, we assumed that, since 75% of the 5000 teenagers surveyed owning an iPhone, this trend would be similar with the greater Gen Z populace. So, we took 75% of 55.8 million to find the number of iPhone owners in Gen Z

(.75)(55.8 Million) = 41.85 Million

So, 41.85 million people in Gen Z own iPhones. 

We also assumed that Gen Z iPhone ownership would display a similar pattern in iPhone ownership as the general populace. Since 60% (24% of iPhone 7 users and 36% of iPhone 6s users) owned an iPhone 6s+ or newer in March 2017, we assumed that 60% of Gen Z also owned an iPhone 6s+ or newer. Thus:

(.60)(41.85 million) = 25.11 million.

Therefore, 25.11 million Gen Z own an iPhone 6s+ or newer.
THE SPOTIFY APP

While Apple Music dominates the music streaming service with 41 million smartphone users in the United States, Verto Analytics released a report that 19.1 million people in the United States use the Spotify app on their smartphones in 2017. Verto Analytics is a market research company that focuses on the digital consumer. Additionally, only 17% of Gen Z pays for a Spotify subscription while 19% of Gen Z pays for an Apple Music subscription. Given this information, we estimate that 6.685 million iPhone users have installed the Spotify music app on their phones. We discuss how we reached this estimation below. 

In 2017, the Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, a global expert in telecommunications, reported that Apple owns 35% of the U.S. smartphone market. Given that 19.1 million people use the Spotify app on their smartphones, we assumed that the distribution of iPhones would be similar to the distribution of smartphone Spotify users in the United States. So, we took 35% of 19.1 million users to find the total number of people who have or installed the Spotify app. Thus,

(.35)(19.1 million) = 6.685 million

Approximately 6.685 million iPhone users have or installed the Spotify app. 

We could not find a preexisting report on an age and gender breakdown of the 6.685 million users and we could not find verifiable data to use to make a reasonable estimation. However, we found the following breakdown of Spotify usage, based on age:

 21% of people aged 18 - 29 use Spotify several times a day. 
 15% of people aged 30- 44 use Spotify several times a day. 
 5% of people aged 45 - 54 use Spotify several times a day. 
 4% of people aged 65+ use Spotify several times a day.

We also found the following breakdown of Spotify usage, based on gender:

 40% of males use Spotify 
 26% of females use Spotify.

CONCLUSION

The Gen Z is the smartphone generation, with an estimated 25.11 million owning iPhones. Although an estimated 6.685 million people have or installed the Spotify app onto their iPhones, only 17% of Gen Z pays for a Spotify subscription while 19% of Gen Z pays for an Apple Music subscription.

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IPhone - Apple Music API

Popular iPhone apps using Apple Music API include Musical.ly, Nike+ Run Club, Ticketmaster, Shazam, and Anchor. Specific data on the number of iPhone installs was not available for these apps; Apple does not make this information publicly available. However, I was able to assess their popularity based on their App Store rank in SimilarWeb, which is based on the number of app downloads, as well as by the number of reviews and overall rating of the app. Despite extensive searching, I could only find five apps with Apple Music API that qualify as popular; the other apps I found did not have a notable ranking or reviews. It seems that there are still not very many apps with this integration, presumably because it is still quite new, having launched in June of last year. You'll find the list of the most popular apps below. 
apple music api apps
 Musical.ly: this social network enables users to create and share short-form music videos. Users can create original videos or watch and share videos from their favorite musicians. The app uses Apple Music's API to easily connect users to their favorite musicians. The app is hugely popular: it has 1 billion daily video views, with a 4.5 star rating on the App Store out of 184,000 reviews. It's the #31 app on the App Store for the U.S. across all categories, and #5 for photo and video apps. 

 Nike + Run Club: this fitness app is the #12 ranked health and fitness app in the U.S. on the App Store. It has a user rating of 4.5 stars out of 136,000 reviews. The app was one of the first to use the Apple Music API, which users can use to listen to music during their workout. 

 Ticketmaster: This popular app for buying event tickets is integrated with Apple Music, enabling users to easily track concerts they might be interested in. The app has a 4.5 star rating out of 224,000 reviews, and is the #16 app in the U.S. in the entertainment category. 

 Shazam: Another one of the first apps to use the Apple Music API, Shazam helps users identify music and the enables them to listen to that music through Apple Music. Shazam is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1.5 million reviews on the App Store, and it's ranked #8 among music apps in the U.S. 

 Anchor: Another app with Apple Music integration, Anchor enables users to create original podcasts. Through the integration, users can add any song from their Apple library to their Anchor station. Anchor has a 5 star rating on the app store from over 9,000 reviews, and is ranked #22 among news apps. 

conclusionTo wrap up, popular iPhone apps using Apple Music API include Musical.ly, Shazam, Ticketmaster, Nike+ Run Club, and Anchor. 

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IPhone - Spotify's API

Popular iPhone apps in the US that use the Spotify API include Starbucks, Shazam, Tinder, Facebook Messenger, StubHub, Nike+ Run Club, Starz, Discord, Bumble, and Runkeeper. These apps are third-party apps that have integrated Spotify API. Every app mentioned above has received at least a 4-star rating and over 5K reviews on the iTunes store. For each app presented below, I will provide its rating, number of reviews, and features related to its Spotify API integration.

METHODOLOGY
Spotify’s US website has provided a list of 12 third-party apps that have integrated its API and a list of devices with apps (i.e., in-car apps) that uses its API. A press search over the last two years also provided the same list of apps provided on Spotify’s website. The iTunes store does not provide the number of installs, but it provides the rating and number of reviews for the apps. “Unpopular” apps such as Last.fm (rated 3-star from 78 reviews) and WhoSampled (rated 4-star from 16 reviews) have been excluded from the compiled list. Navigation apps such as Waze have also been excluded as it requires another device for it to work (i.e., car). Only standalone, third-party apps such as Tinder have been provided below. 

1. STARBUCKS
Coffeehouse chain Starbucks’ app has received a 5-star rating based on 1.6 million reviews. The app allows users to find and play songs on Spotify. This feature is only available to Starbucks Rewards members. Starbuck employees could also sign up for the Spotify Premium Partner program to access features such as making their own playlist, editing playlist with friends, listening to music offline, and connecting to any device from their phone.

2. SHAZAM
Entertainment app Shazam has received a 5-star rating based on 1.2 million reviews. Users could use Shazam to identify the music and use Spotify to play and save it. A Spotify Premium subscription is needed to listen to full tracks in the Shazam app.

3. TINDER
Dating app Tinder has received a 4-star rating based on 251.4K reviews. Users could link their Spotify account to their Tinder profile to let potential matches know what music they like. Even without a Spotify account, users could also set their anthem and play previews of other people’s top songs from their Tinder profiles.

4. FACEBOOK MESSENGER
Social networking app Facebook Messenger has received a 4.5-star rating based on 248.5K reviews. The app allows users to build and edit Spotify playlists in group conversations. Only users with a Spotify account connected to Facebook can start the playlist. Anyone in the group could add tracks to the playlist. A Spotify account is not needed to preview songs or add to the playlist, but users need to have an account to listen to the playlist in full.

5. STUBHUB
Ticket marketplace StubHub’s app has received a 5-star rating based on 238.9K reviews. When users connect their Spotify with the StubHub app, StubHub would recommend concerts based on the music that they listen to. Users could also view upcoming gigs from their favorite artists direct from Spotify.

6. Nike+ Run Club 
Fitness app Nike+ Run Club has received a 4.5-star rating based on 76.9K reviews. Premium subscribers could use Spotify’s Pace Station to create a mix of tracks with a beat to match their desired running pace. Non-premium users could use the Nike Running Club playlists on Spotify.

7. STARZ
US cable network Starz’s app has received a 5-star rating based on 26.6K reviews. The app allows users to stream Spotify playlists from original TV and movie soundtracks and receive series and movie recommendations based on what they are listening to. Additionally, Spotify Premium members could also listen to full-length tracks through the Starz app.

8. DISCORD
Cross-platform chat app Discord has received a 4.5-star rating based on 7.5K reviews. The app allows users to see and play what their friends are listening to. Spotify Premium members could also listen together with the Listen Along feature.

9. BUMBLE
Social and dating app Bumble has received a 4-star rating based on 6.5K reviews. The app allows users to see what their potential matches are listening to and vice versa. Users could also view Spotify’s top tracks on dating playlists.

10. RUNKEEPER 
Fitness app Runkeeper has received a 4.5-star rating based on 5.4K reviews. The app could be set to start playing music when the users start running. Users could reselect their music or adjust the tempo anytime during their workout.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Starbucks, Shazam, Tinder, Facebook Messenger, StubHub, Nike+ Run Club, Starz, Discord, Bumble, and Runkeeper have use the Spotify API. Every app mentioned above has received at least a 4-star rating and over 5K reviews on the iTunes store. 