On Spotify & Tidal. McDonald's & Burger King All Over Again.

The strategies of Spotify & Tidal are a flashback to the McDonald’s & Burger King competition.

Back in the day, there were two main companies in the US competing for the fast food market. One of them was McDonald’s and the other was Burger King. They had very different strategies, and the outcome of their competition was somewhat paradoxical.

Similarly, the music streaming landscape displays its own competitive face-off, a modern day burger showdown, if you will. The primary contenders? One could argue Spotify and Tidal (we will leave out Apple Music, because that’s a different beast altogether). These two music industry giants, while they share similar overarching aims, have embraced divergent marketing strategies, much akin to McDonald’s and Burger King.

Spotify, which can be likened to McDonald’s, concentrates more on the overall user experience. Its interface is designed with a keen focus on usability. The app offers playlists based on the mood, time of day or activity, and can suggest new music based on what you have already been listening to. Spotify has made the entire process of listening to music itself a streamlined, personalized journey. It comes with a free version, cluttered with ads and a premium ad-less version. Spotify’s marketing strategy hones in heavily on the ‘experiential’ factor, underlining the company’s commitment to making music exploration a stress-free, enjoyable process for its users, just like McDonald’s has forever been offering a convenient, familiar and friendly dining experience.

Meanwhile, Tidal, analogous to Burger King, places a massive emphasis on quality– the audio quality more specifically. Tidal prides itself on providing lossless audio, meaning the audio file has no compressions or losses from the original version. This premium sound experience is Tidal’s primary unique selling point. Moreover, Tidal holds exclusive rights to a number of artists’ work and offers a varied selection of some podcasts and videos, creating an ecosystem that boasts unique access and high fidelity. Burger King has always played the card of superior, flame-grilled taste to differentiate itself.

Funnily enough, just like in the fast-food war, the one majoring in user experience (McDonald’s/Spotify) has managed to hold a larger market share than the one emphasizing on quality (Burger King/Tidal). Spotify currently boasts over 345 million active users, with 155 million subscribers signing up for the premium option. Contrastingly, Tidal, despite its high-quality audio offering and celebrity-endorsed status, holds a much smaller piece of the streaming pie, with around 3 million subscribers.

Why does this happen? The answer can perhaps be found in research showing that consumers often gravitate towards convenient experiences. Spotify has made convenience its core, with a user-friendly interface, personalized playlists, various subscription plans and a huge library of music that caters to a wider audience compared to Tidal’s niche, discerning audiophile and exclusive content pursuers.

These intriguing paradigms echo widely recognized marketing wisdom: knowing your audience and tailoring your marketing strategy to cater to their needs is absolutely key. Making sure your product or service is high quality and tastefully presented is undoubtedly important, but ensuring the entire experience is smooth and gratifying can often prove a more successful strategy. The burger war and the music stream battle underscore this notion profoundly.

So, when crafting a marketing strategy, don’t just focus on making the ‘burger’ better, also think about the ‘dining experience’. Music quality is important, yes, but so is the ease and comfort of enjoying that music. And this principle can be extended to arguably any other product or service industry. Your business strategy, much like a sweet symphony, should harmonize the focus on product quality and user experience. Only then can you hope to hit the crescendo in the market’s fierce symphony.