Apple Music now hosts 100 million songs, 18 million more than Spotify

UPDATED: 21 years after the debut of iTunes and the original iPod, which held 1,000 songs, Apple Music says it now offers 100 million songs with a monthly subscription.

It’s a reality that was almost unthinkable just two decades ago. Spotify was hosting 82 million tracks, according to stats shared earlier this year.

In the 1960s, about 5,000 new albums were released each year. Now 20,000 artists and groups are delivering new songs to Apple Music every day.

While algorithms drive some of the Apple Music experience, the streamer has always emphasized human curation more than Spotify does, including hand-chosen playlists and DJ-driven Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country live online radio.

“With such a huge expanse of songs, we know you need someone there to guide you through,” wrote Apple Music’s global head of editorial Rachel Newman. “Gone are the days of hitting shuffle on your library: Now it’s on us to help you discover new favorites and rediscover forgotten gems, whether it’s one of our expert radio hosts lighting your path, or a handcrafted playlist.”

“We also know that it’s more important than ever that we are elevating artists’ voices and providing opportunities for them to tell their own stories and contextualize their music,” he continued. “It is no longer enough to just connect artists and fans, it’s about making those connections deeper and more meaningful.”

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.