Apple Music falls from first to fifth position in ‘Brand Intimacy 2019 Study’

The apps and social platforms industry ranked 10th out of the 15 studied in MBLM’s Brand Intimacy 2019 Study, which is the largest study of brands based on emotions, rising two spots since 2018. Last year’s leader, Apple Music, fell to the #5 position.

Pinterest topped the industry, followed by Spotify and Pandora. The remaining brands in the Top 10 for the apps & social platforms industry were: Instagram, Apple Music, Facebook, Snapchat, Uber, Airbnb and Venmo. Brand Intimacy is defined as “the emotional science that measures the bonds we form with the brands we use and love.”

The top intimate brand outperformed the top brands in the Fortune 500 and S&P indices in both revenue and profit over the past 10 years, according to the Brand Intimacy 2019 Study. The average revenue growth from 2008-2017 was 8.68% for the top 10 most intimate brands, compared to 3.66% for Fortune 500 top brands and 4.75% for top S&P companies. 

In dollar value, this translates on average to the top 10 intimate brands having $37 billion more in total revenue over a 10-year period compared to the Fortune 500. This has significant implications for apps and social media brands, many of whom have volatile profitability and growth histories, including Spotify, which turned a profit for the first time in the first quarter 2019 and Facebook, which lost $100 billion in value last year, according to Mario Natarelli, managing partner, MBLM.