Spotify Just Pulled Further Ahead Of Apple, Tidal, And Pandora Too

There's little Spotify has to catch up on when it comes to streaming music. They've got a whole lot of the market cornered for several reasons – not least of these because they've been in the business the longest. Spotify's most recent update – today – should serve to move the streaming music service even further out ahead of the competition.

"Our customers always tell us that music discovery and listening is a personal experience, and we are enhancing the free experience with this in mind," said Babar Zafar, VP of Product Development at Spotify. The company's in a good position right this minute. Not only do they have brand recognition as the default, go-to option for streaming music for all music lovers around the world, they've got multiple ways to get that cash.

SEE TOO: Spotify's free mobile service is about to get a lot better

"This is the beginning of an evolution for Spotify and we will continue to make improvements that mirror our customers' needs," said Zafar. "This is not only about giving users a more customized free experience from the day they sign up, but giving them more control over their listening experience so they can easily find and stream their favorites anytime, from anywhere."

Spotify has two types of user. One sort pays for Spotify and enjoys the full-powered full-featured version of the streaming service. Another sort listens to Spotify for "free" and does so with advertisements popping up every once in a while. To make some gains in both arenas, Spotify's latest update brings on "personalized" services.

Because when you get personal, you get hooked in. Everybody participates in "personalization" in most every service they engage in. Allowing users to create their own custom version of any service makes for a more addictive end-product. Have a peek at the link to the right of this article to learn all about the updates that've rained down upon us this afternoon.

If users find they're getting a product they cannot live without, they'll be more apt to get the best version of that product that they're able. Some won't, of course – but for them, there are advertisements. Spotify makes their buck on ad-powered users just as well as they do on subscription users. Either way, Spotify wins.

Pandora began this way, and they continue to roll this way to a degree. But the age of innocence is over, and listening to random tracks is no longer cool. Tidal has Jay-Z and Beyonce – and for lots of people, that's enough to stick with the brand. But Tidal doesn't currently have anything other than some unique artists to hold over Spotify – and that's a problem (for Tidal.)

Apple's got some good ideas, and they've got some star power. But they don't have the singular dedication that Spotify provides their users. Even if Apple made the same effort for their streaming music service that Spotify did, the public visual suggests that Spotify is more of a hero service – just because they do ONE thing, and one thing only.

It's kind of like Spotify is the Apple of the streaming music business. If that's true, what does that make Apple Music? Maybe the GoBots to Spotify's Transformers?