PYMNTS Streaming App Provider Rankings Show Surprising Winner

Every now and then a dark horse appears in the PYMNTS App Provider Rankings that shows how much consumers are willing to discover and explore new apps in what would seem to be a settled category. That’s the case with streaming apps. The biggest moves in this category over the past month didn’t come from Spotify or Netflix. It came from Qobuz.

The PYMNTS.com Streaming Apps page offers a monthly ranking of smartphone Streaming Apps, assessing them based on publicly available information and exclusive app usage data, helping users identify the top performers in the market. The ranking aims to provide precise insights into app performance, aiding stakeholders in making informed decisions. With a six point jump during October, Qobuz tied with STARZ for the top spot.

Qobuz (correct spelling) is a premium music streaming and download app that targets audiophiles, offering more than 100 million tracks in lossless and hi-resolution audio bundled with in-app editorial content, reviews and human-curated playlists across its iOS, Android, desktop and web apps and integrations with hi-fi hardware. The October spike lines up with a period where Qobuz both widened its footprint and sharpened its differentiation: in October 2024 it rolled out a deeply discounted $4.99 student plan, added ultra-high-resolution DSD and DXD formats to its download store and launched service in Japan, the world’s second-largest music market — moves that simultaneously improved affordability, sound quality and geographic reach.

By 2025 Qobuz had also published an industry-leading per-stream payout of $0.01873 and leaned into a “ethical alternative” positioning, which generated favorable coverage and influencer-driven TikTok traffic; a November 2025 press release notes that Qobuz peaked at #4 in the U.S. iOS App Store music category in October and more than doubled new trials. Layer on steady product improvements such as an overhauled playlist and library experience, new radio features and classical search tools, plus a highly positive run of hi-res-focused reviews and buying guides from outlets like Crutchfield, Tom’s Guide and Pocket-Lint, and you have a plausible set of catalysts behind Qobuz’s October usage surge in the PYMNTS streaming rankings.

STARZ takes the second spot. STARZ’s app is the “premium cable channel in your pocket,” a standalone streaming service that delivers ad-free access to the network’s originals (Outlander, the Power universe, BMF) plus a rotating slate of big studio films, with offline downloads and multi-device streaming baked in. The October spike you’re seeing in the PYMNTS rankings likely reflects a perfect storm of price and content moves: in late summer and early fall STARZ rolled out aggressive promotions — including 50%-plus discounts, $3–$4.99 monthly intro offers and annual plans as low as $29.99 or even $12 via partners — that suddenly made a “premium” service feel like a bargain add-on. Business Insider, Billboard and others amplified those deals, turning them into social-friendly “don’t miss this” headlines that drove impulse downloads.

At the same time, STARZ kept feeding the fandom machine with fresh installments and news around tentpole franchises like Raising Kanan and BMF, plus a steady calendar of movie drops that sites like Vital Thrills highlight in monthly rundowns. Add in solid app-store reviews praising the clean interface and offline viewing as a “go-to in our entertainment galaxy,” and you have a clear story: a midsize streamer using smart discounting and franchise gravity to punch far above its weight in app engagement.

Apple Music took the third spot with a four-point increase. Apple Music is Apple’s all-in-one streaming hub for more than 100 million songs, live radio and music videos, wrapped in lossless and Spatial Audio playback, tight integration with iPhone, CarPlay, Watch and HomePod, and curated playlists that sit a tap away from your lock screen.

The October surge looks like the moment several Apple levers all clicked at once: new “make it stick” features such as AutoMix (an AI DJ that beat-matches continuous mixes), Lyrics Translation and Music Pins landed as part of Apple’s fall services and iOS updates, giving users more reasons to live inside the app instead of treating it as background audio. At the same time, Apple blanketed different segments with aggressive trial offers — six-month free Apple Music promos in select markets that ran through late October, extended Apple Music / Apple Music Classical trials that had to be redeemed by October 31, and three-month free trials bundled with new iPhones — all designed to convert device sales and casual listeners into recurring streamers.

Put together, you get a very Apple story: a mature app that already owns the default position on iOS quietly adds sticky, AI-driven features and well-timed promotions, then watches engagement spike as millions of users discover that the music app they already have just got a lot more interesting.