Apple Music isn’t as big of a threat as its competitors had feared

Considering how iTunes completely revolutionized the music industry and blew all of the competition out of the water, you can’t really blame music streaming services like Pandora and Spotify for being a bit nervous about Apple’s entrance into their field. However, after Apple officially unveiled Apple Music at WWDC yesterday, executives from most music streaming companies let out a sigh of relief because, all in all, Apple Music wasn’t particularly impressive. 

After Apple officially debuted its Apple Music streaming service at WWDC on Monday, industry executives blithely offered their two cents — albeit anonymously — on the latest product to come out of Cupertino, proclaiming early that it won’t be a runaway success. Speaking with The Verge, a number of unnamed executives said Apple Music will likely catch on with consumers, but is unlikely to reshape the industry, as did iTunes. “I think I’ve never been more confident,” one person said following Apple’s reveal. “We were all bracing ourselves, but we feel really good about it right now.” Other industry insiders believe Apple left copious elbow room for existing streaming services like Pandora and Spotify, both giants in paid and free subscriptions. Specifically, Apple Music doesn’t offer much in the way of exclusive features. Instead, the product is an amalgamation of existing services; video sharing borrowed from YouTube, social networking ala Facebook, free radio content similar to Pandora.