Some of the streaming numbers on Apple Music’s biggest tracks — particularly on newer hip-hop songs — are said to be rivalling the number of listens on Spotify, according to a new report.
Apple Music has only been around for a month, but music label insiders claim it has already surprised people by attracting more than 10 million subscribers.
If accurate, those numbers are phenomenal, given that Spotify only has a little over 20 million paying subscribers after being around since 2006. The majority of its listeners are non-paying.
These numbers don’t give a true indication of Apple Music’s popularity, since this is still its free three-month trial, but if Apple retains a decent percentage of these listeners, it’s fair to say that the exercise has been a major success.
The report also claims that Apple will be using the MTV Video Music Awards to heavily publicize its streaming music service, which may help explain the cross-promotion in which VMA nominees were announced on Beats 1 radio.
Not everything about Apple Music’s first month has been quite so successful, however. In addition to the early controversy with Taylor Swift over streaming fees, Apple is also facing an FTC antitrust investigation — although a report from yesterday, citing a law professor, suggests the case may be without merit.
Source: Hitsdailydouble
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
52 responses to “Apple Music already has half Spotify’s subscriber numbers”
Impressive but it has only probably reached that number due to the 3 month trial and people wanting to test it out. None of these figures really mean anything until month 4 on wards. I tried Apple Music and have used it but has some issues I do not like, which hasn’t want me to go and cancel my Spotify premium subscription and switch. I hope iOS 9 will improve it. It would be nice being able to do most things without having to enable iCloud Music Library.
I completely agree, this figure only makes sense after the trial period.
Wait when it comes to Android. It will be a massive push forward.
I am 100% sure this is because of the 3 month trail and it being default on everyone’s iphone/ipad/ipod.
But you aren’t automatically signed up for the service. So, I think the 3 month free trial is the real reason. I would wait at least a year to see what the real numbers are since right now, everyone’s using it for free.
But even so. Frekin 10 million in one month! Free trial or not, that’s insane.
It isnt insane when you compare that figure to the number of people with iphone.
Moreso it is the default music application
Yeah but you still have the choice to subscribe or not. And this is just with one frekin Month. That’s alot of subscribers in one month.
And also it doesn’t even include Android users yet. It will just get massive upon release.
what I meant was, since music is the default app, and we can assume that most people do use it (i could be wrong here ofc), chances are, there are most of the users have agreed to the 3 month free trial as it does not require a cc to even try.
It actually does. You must at least use an iTunes gift card.
I must have had my credit info in when I set up my iPod I guess. Thanks for letting me know. Time to remove it.
Yeah, because after the trail, you’ll automatically be charged the 9.99 Monthly fee.
I use the Music app and didn’t sign up, but that’s because I don’t care for streaming services outside of iTunes Match.
Spot on!
We cancelled Spotify for the 3 month free trial. Apple shaking up the music streaming market has made us question why we pay for music when there is so much free content out there via internet radio, podcasts, etc. We’ll likely not continue with any subscription after Apple’s free trial.and put that money towards something else.
Another way to put it is that Apple Music has 0% of Spotify’s paid subscribers. Lots of people tried the free Apple Music trial. Unfortunately, the Apple UI is a mess. Having to use iTunes for Apple Music is horrible. There is no Sonos support. And don’t even get me going on the DRM issues.
Try again Apple. This one’s a bust.
OR…. 5.5% of Spotify’s free subscribers in just one month. Which is still, frekin crazy.
it is called free trial
Yeah. That you must sign up for.
Not a bust. Comment again, c_hack.
I have been w/Spotify since day 1, but continue to try each new service as they are released. I live in both Android and iOS worlds. This comparison between numbers of subscribers is ridiculous if for only (1) reason. Each and every new iPhone as well as current iPhones that have been updated to the latest iOS have Apple Music BAKED IN…PERMANENTLY.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that that would give any app a leg up on its competition. Taken a step further, a few things will happen after the trial period ends. Some diligent trial customers will cancel, some will continue because they like the service, but most importantly, and what companies w/reoccurring revenue models rely upon, many, MANY customers will continue to have their debit/credit cards deducted for no reason other than they forgot, or don’t care about a “measly” $10.
It would be crazy to believe that a world in which 400+ million iPhones have been sold that Apple Music wouldn’t very quickly have the most subscribers…BY FAR.
this
It’s not permanently baked in. You can disable it completely, or just not use it like I do (I’m fine with my iTunes Match subscription). It requires actually following the prompts to start your trial, which it seems over 10 million people already have. This isn’t an unfair comparison, especially since Spotify also has a free version.
If you buy an iPad today, you won’t see an icon for Spotify, but you will see one for Apple Music. It’s built-in marketing, as either one of the options you submitted involve doing SOMETHING about the app on your device. Just because YOU don’t use it, doesn’t mean that many, many others won’t try it because hey, it’s already there! It’s a numbers/marketing game, and not one that Apple created (see: Windows bloatware where companies paid Microsoft BIG money to have their software shipped w/Windows for this very reason). It’s a little silly to believe that this “tactic” doesn’t help further increase its subscriber count vs. apps that aren’t already on an Apple device.
“Just because YOU don’t use it, doesn’t mean that many, many others won’t try it”
Good thing I never said anything like that.
Have you ever actually used an iOS device? There is no Apple Music app. The functionality is simply included in the Music app that has always been there. And even Apple Music requires you “doing SOMETHING about the app on your device”; it doesn’t just automatically start your free trial. The first time I opened my Music app after updating, I went straight to my iTunes Match music and dismissed the Apple Music prompt. No one is forced to use it if they don’t want to.
You’re kinda right about the marketing in that Apple is banking on you using the app that came with the device over downloading another. Although, it doesn’t automatically give them a subscriber advantage because they are still giving everyone the option to use it (just like most everyone ignores or uninstalls Windows bloatware).
I feel like we’re probably on the same side with this, but you horribly misinterpreted my comment.
1) The second sentence in your previous post clearly says “or just not use it like I do”. So you did, indeed, say something like “YOU don’t use it”.
2) In my original post, I wrote that I live in both Android and iOS worlds. I use iPads for work and have myself the latest iPad at home. Further, unlike fanboys of either OS, I have found pros and cons in each OS.
3) I am evaluating Apple Music during the free trial period and have personally seen them “accidentally delete” my Beats Music playlists. That’s a story for another forum.
4) I never, EVER said that Apple automatically started a free trial, nor did I say that anyone was forced to use it if they don’t want to.
5) Lastly, unless you have some facts, I can tell you from DECADES of IT management that “most everyone” does not ignore or uninstall Windows bloatware. I don’t have actual data other than my personal experience. But you might be surprised by how many people either “just click on stuff that’s there” and/or pay for apps because they are already there.
I recently read a stat that over 70% of Sirius XM subscribers have come as a direct result from having had it “baked in” to their GM cars. I think that might suggest that the built-in free model actually has substantive economic effects.
It is my opinion that by placing an Apple Music icon on a device’s wallpaper, they are GREATLY increasing the odds that, at the very least, the end user may try it, say, before an app that must be searched and downloaded from the App Store.
1. And yet, I never said that others shouldn’t use it. Work on your reading comprehension, dude.
3. Yes, that’s irrelevant to this discussion.
4. “It’s built-in marketing, as either one of the options you submitted involve doing SOMETHING about the app on your device.” Your comment betrays you. The only extra step for Spotify is downloading the app. Whoop dee freaking do. They ALL require users to do something!
5. In my experience working with people’s computers, my statement is correct. And then there’s all the articles out there about removing bloatware. I was tasked with refreshing our show computers at work (AV company) and did installs from the downloaded ISO instead of the stock recovery partition. I always install a clean OS instead of the one that comes with it. It may not be “most”, but there’s a very large portion of Windows users that never touch the bloatware.
Apple has said many times before that they are purposely using the fact that millions already have these apps built in. Apple Pay, iTunes Radio, Passbook/Wallet, and now Apple Music. They said it at the freaking keynote! And again, Apple Music isn’t its own app. It’s built IN to the Music app that everyone already knows about and has used. If someone hasn’t ever used their iDevice to play music (and thus never opened the Music app), they won’t subscribe to Apple Music unless they’ve been told about it and purposely open the app to check it out.
The fact that you’ve repeatedly attempted to personalize this with insults suggests both ignorance on your part as well your own lack of comprehension.
Regardless of your childish retorts, I will stick with my original statement. I expect Apple Music to GREATLY and QUICKLY surpass Spotify subscriptions if for no other reason than Apple Music is so readily accessible on 400+ million iOS devices.
You still need to work on your reading comprehension. I never said you criticized Apple for their marketing.
Your move to acting offended proves my point. Only those who realize they’ve been caught move to acting offended and pointing out “childish retorts”. Maybe you should go back to school so you can learn how to keep your argument straight and not contradict yourself.
“Only those who realize they’ve been caught.” You couldn’t be farther from the truth. But again, reading through your comments, you’re big on “everyone” and “only those”. You are an idiot Apple fanboy. Go get a degree in SOMETHING. ANYTHING. Then get out of the sandbox and try to play with the big boys.
I would wait to release any numbers since Apple has a 3 month for Free trial period. I think people should wait at least a year to see what more realistic numbers actually are.
Holly Sh@#! Even if they keep only half of that in payed subscribers, that’s insane.
if they keep half in paid subscriber, then apple music is a Fail. Spotify has 30M paid subscribers
No, Spotify has 20 million paid subscribers. And it took them almost 10 years to reach that number, bro.
wow, he said: ‘bro’.
….?
And Apple Music will begin to tap into the Android market too. So there you go, plus you have Apple Music in 100 countries already which is unprecedented for any media service. What took Spotify 7 years to do, I bet it will take Apple Music less than 7 months to accomplish. It is pretty impressive, and the fact that Apple Music is pretty good since a lot of music is curated by actual people and not a computer algorithm like all other streaming music services. Trent Reznor from NIN is doing a great job right out of the gate with Apple Music. It is a massive hit already in context to all music streaming services.
Unless you live in an obscure place, the reviews of Apple Music has not been stellar and quite bad. personally Apple sucks at anything cloud based or services related.
You seem to have also missed the fact that Apple Music comes standard as part of IOS 8.4, So you have no choice but to have it on your phone coupled with the free 3 months trial.
Also keep in mind that the likes of spotify and pandora including early streaming services were pioneers of that industry, it wont take apple 7 years because the technology and processes is there in the market place, all apple has to do is copy and perfect it.
Apple music success can only be judged and compared to Spotify after the free trial ends, all we have to do is wait.
This isnt rocket science for any smart person to figure out
It is actually pretty good, maybe a little confusing because it overlaps with your current library, but not bad. Plus I had to opt into Apple Music, it isn’t on by default. So for that many to opt in is pretty killer. Also Apple does cloud services pretty good. Messages is kick ass, Find My Decices, the iTunes App Store defined the industry and iTunes Music store is the biggest. So to say Apple doesn’t do cloud is rather funny.
I reiterate that Apple does not do cloud services well.
Mobileme and PIng among others were scrapped because apple could not handle that properly. Icloud on web browsers is presently a mess with several products still in beta for over 2 years now, with several products not syncing well.
Top industry watchers knows that apple sucks at cloud services,stating that messages and app stores are kick ass when they are integrative services into ios are lame examples, we are talking about cloud services that aren’t integrative into IOS and that is where Apple sucks.
As per your reference to apple music not being default, that depends on how how you view it, it is the default music player on IOS and thus that negates your position, you do not have to download any extra app and signed in for you. that makes a lot of difference and easy to try especially if you have your card on file as most people do, thus making the sign on process for trials quite easy.
The fact remains that Apple Music has bad reviews generally and the success will only be judged after the free trial ends.
So all we can do is wait for the next few weeks
If your definition of trying to see what works and doesn’t is a failure than Google is the worst when it comes to cloud services for they have shut down more cloud services than Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter combined.
Apple’s SIRI is great. Services within iCloud are great such as iCloud Backup from which Google now copied because it was such a great service for iOS. Apple is getting better by the second. iTunes Match is killer.
FYI Apple Music is not the default app, MUSIC is. You have to turn on Apple Music. So that means you are knowingly willing to turn the service on. No different for any other person trying seeking out a streaming service.
If Apple Music is so bad, how is Google Music doing? By your standards they should be at 100,000,000 subs right about now.
Here we go with the Android bashing, I am device agnostic and uses an iPhone 6+ and Nexus 6 presently, nowhere in this discuss did i mention Google or compare Apple to Google. the conversation is about apple and spotify…… stay on point….
Funny how Apple fan boys always try to resolve a simple discuss by bashing Google .
By the way , Siri isn’t great compared to Google Now and Cortana,Every serious tech reviewers and users out there knows Siri lags behind both platform in accuracy and relevancy.
Apple is a hit or miss on services. lets focus on the services Apple has direct competition on and i mean SERVICES, not products like Iphone which it excels at.
iTunes match isn’t a killer except in your world, and comparing downloading an app to an existing app to the same process seems illogical not to mention the fact that subscribing between Apple and Spotify is quite different especially when the service is well integrated with your credit card on file.
Your argument will only make sense after the 3 months trial ends, oh and did i mention that Apple though new is only perfecting the processes and technology that earlier pioneers had already worked on, so they have no reason but to acquire more subscribers at a faster rate.
Where did I bash Android or Google? I used them as a metric to put your wild assumptions into context, a measurement.
Let’s see how Apple does in 3 months when Apple Music comes to Android.
these are no wild assumptions, the facts are there for everyone to see, only Apple zealots states that Siri is better compared to Google Now and Cortana…. Only
We are talking about Spotify and Apple here, Google has no place in this conversation nor as a point of metrics, bringing Google into this argument only nullifies your point further
Yes in a few weeks from now indeed and it doesn’t matter which platform Apple Music goes to, considering the quirkiness of Android, if Apple does not polish Apple Music well on IOS considering its stuttering performances and UI before releasing on Android, it will fail miserably.
I can bet with you that Apple will postpone the launch of Apple Music on Android this fall.
You are the one who brought up Services. Geez! Read your own posts. And you are who exactly… OZ? One who assumes what services are best, ignoring the fact that people can decide what works best for them. Right now people are enjoying Apple Music. Live with that fact.
LOL!!
Yes they are services and differs from products depends on how they are categorized.
You seem angry over a simple discuss!! This should be two people having a simple conversation with differing viewpoints and you don’t have to get mad and angry…..
Enjoy Buddy!
Angry LOL far from it. And the BEATS go on.
I’ve been listening to Apple Music for all my music desires since it went live and I love it.
Music discovery on Apple Music is trash. I’ve already turned off the auto renew for it.
Even for a tech head like me (to a degree) apple music has quite a learning curve! its unintuitive. It may be pushing too much content hence the confusion. I like the quality though…trumps spotify’s best quality option.
Personally, now that excitement has gone down, I don’t even bother opening it. I just go back to Spotify where all my music is setup nice and tidy.
and your reality is what a lot of people will resolve to, the novelty will wear off after the 3 months free trial ends and the credit card deduction starts for people that forgot to cancel