DRAKE, APPLE
AND SPOTIFY:
LIFE STREAM 

Many observers have questioned how Drake’s More Life earned 89.9 million first-day worldwide streams on Apple Music, 38m+ more plays than it did on Spotify, given the latter’s larger user base.

One contention is that Apple has for some time enjoyed an advantage with “Urban” titles, powered by past exclusives with Drake, Future, Frank Ocean and Chance the Rapper. Fans of this music are the most active in the streaming space, and tend to explore new music rapaciously as soon as it’s available. It should also be noted that Apple is believed to have considerably more than the 20 million subscribers that it most recently reported.

Cupertino also enjoyed a big head start when More Life premiered in its entirety on the Beats 1 OVO Sounds show.

In addition to its active subscribers, Spotify boasts a huge cohort of more passive free users who stream playlists that are now groaning with Drake tracks; these listeners tend to provide superstar releases such as this one with an ever-lengthening tail, so expect Spotify to catch up with Apple on Drake streams in the ensuing days and weeks.