Alright, I’m sure we’ve all heard of these two powerhouse digital music streaming services. In my last post, I talked about three ways in which Spotify is winning on social media (and hey, I stand by that). But as my classmate Gab recently discovered, Apple Music is kind of killing the game too. Specifically, here are two reasons to love what Spotify and Apple are doing with their socials, and that one reason not to.

1. Twitter Has Got Some Game

You know what they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. After comparing the audits of Spotify and Apple Music, it is clear that Twitter is the primary social media platform. Both services don’t post nearly as often on Instagram or Facebook, but it doesn’t seem to affect their overall brand. It’d be nice to see some more content on those platforms, but Twitter stands tall on its own. According to Hubspot’s article, The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter for Business in 2020, odds are your competition is working toward similar, if not the same goals, on Twitter. I have to wonder when it comes to Spotify and Apple, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Spotify has 3.3 million followers while Apple has 9.8 million. This is extremely impressive on Apple’s part given that Spotify has been around longer, and considering that Spotify joined Twitter earlier. With that said, it is Apple…

2. #Hashtags #Hashtags #MoreHashtags

Need I say it again? On Friday, January 17, K-Pop band BTS released a new song titled Black Swan (check it out by the way if you’ve never heard any K-Pop; pretty cool). Both Spotify and Apple posted about the release very early in the morning, receiving the most attention on Twitter. Spotify tweeted fourteen times that day while Apple posted ten times. As Gab said, “The hashtags and visual were key to the success of the post.” In my last post, I discussed how Social Insider’s article, 12 Steps To Boost Instagram Engagement in 2020 mentions the use of hashtag marketing as a key tactic to increase impressions. While the article is geared towards using hashtags on Instagram, the method has clearly worked for Spotify and Apple Music on Twitter. Not only are hashtags bringing fans to each page, but also bringing attention to artists more often. After all, music and artists are the products here.

The One Reason We’re A Little Salty

Marketing is no longer a one-way street. Each day brands are working to engage and converse with users online, and that is where these music services fall short. Both Spotify and Apple Music do not engage enough with users, and who likes to be ignored? Author Alfred Lua from Buffer offers five different ways brands can quickly and authentically engage with followers, and that is through emojis, images, questions, GIFs and videos. It doesn’t always have to be a boring “thank you.” It really does surprise me how little Spotify and Apple responds to users. I said it might be due to the fact that while music is their main product, it is not necessarily their music that they hold dear to their heart.

While we may feel more inclined to use one music streaming service or the other, we can’t deny that both have one job, and that is to get the music out there for the world to listen to. Do you follow Spotify and Apple music on social media? Check them out and let me know how they can do better on Instagram and Facebook. Comment below!