Apple CEO Tim Cook Bashes Spotify In a recent interview, Cook insinuated that algorithm-created Spotify playlists were sucking the "humanity" out of music. Tim Cook, Apple CEO, via 'Daily Mail' Apple Music playlists are curated by human beings. Apple has long criticized Spotify for its algorithm-created playlists. The music streaming service boasts 75 million paid subscribers An advantage Apple Music has over Spotify is that the Apple streaming service is a small piece of a trillion dollar company. Spotify, on the other hand, with its 95 million free-service subscribers, has yet to make a real profit.