Apple Music, which launched four weeks ago, now has 11 million subscribers, according to executive Eddy Cue. Cue told USA Today that Apple was “thrilled” by the numbers. Jimmy Iovine, another Apple employee who joined the company along with rapper and record producer Dr Dre, said he was “pleasantly shocked” by how well the service has done.
By way of comparision, Spotify, Apple Music’s biggest rival, now has 75 million active users, 20 million of which are paying subscribers. Apple probably isn’t worried about the 75 million free users, but sees the 20 million figure as the one to beat.
Deezer has 16 million monthly active users and 6 million paid subscribers worldwide. Napster and Rhapsody have 3 million users, while Jay Z’s Tidal service has 770,000. Google Play and Rdio have not released official figures.
Apple Music is currently in three-month free trial phase so users aren’t paying anything for the service. It will cost $9.99 a month after. Cue also revealed that there are 2 million subscribers to the $14.99 family plan, which gives access to Apple Music for up to 6 people. This is also free at the moment.
Apple’s foray into the subscription-based music service is crucial to the company as this sector make up 23 per cent of the digital music market and generated $1.6 billion in trade revenues globally in 2014, according to trade body IFPI. There is likely to be “substantial further growth potential”, IFPI noted, driven by the increasing number of players in the market.
In related news, Cue also added that July was a record month for the Apple App Store, with $1.7 billion in transactions. He chalked up the feat to “particular momentum” for Apple in China.
