Apple Music Now Has Over 10 Million Subscribers After Just 6 Months

[vmistery]

It took Spotify 6 years because they were one of the pioneers of subscription streaming and had to start from 0. Apple have come to the party at a time where all the hard work has already been done and with a massive ready installed user base, so I am personally not that surprised they did 10m so quick and Spotify didn't!

Personally however I'd still not pay for either service yet as I currently spend around £60/year on new music so the numbers don't add up for me.

 

[stanman64]

I think by now nobody is using it for free.

Considering 49.1% of all new device activations during the holidays were Apple devices, I'd think it is safe to say there's a good amount of 3 month free trials that won't end until March.

 

[Mike MA]

You'd be surprised. I'm paying Microsoft (Office) and Netflix roughly $10/month each. Couldn't tell you for the life of me when they get taken from my account.

Well, I see what you mean. But isn't a monthly invoice mail provided? Should be as the contract is on a monthly basis.

 

[coffeemadmanUK]

I personally prefer Spotify (not least because I get it half price so it's the cheaper way for me) but I do think this is good that Apple Music has increased.

That being said I do think it's unfair to say that it took Spotify 6 years to get to this point - they were operating in a very different environment when people were still generally buying or downloading their music. Apple came in when streaming was the norm so it's not comparable at all.

 

[StoneJack]

I remember how wildly was iCloud criticized, but I now I can't imagine my workflow without it. I pay 0.99 dollars for 50 Gb. All iWork apps work seamlessly with it, I can store my files on it, and its been very useful. Give some time, AM will aslo develop

 

[peterdevries]

I prefer Apple music for the langer collection of original music. Spotify touts that they have close to the same library, but much of that are fake covers of original content that try to trick you into playing the music. Just look for some popular music and you will find several "artists" with similar voices, album artwork and song titles, trying to catch plays.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Considering 49.1% of all new device activations during the holidays were Apple devices, I'd think it is safe to say there's a good amount of 3 month free trials that won't end until March.

Unless they had an iPhone before... and already did the trial.

They might have gotten a new iPhone for Christmas... but Apple Music has been around since June 30th.

 

[ginkobiloba]

I think it is doubtful that Apple Music will ever top Spotify. It just isn't different enough to warrant people switching to it (that is where the users will come from).

Actually , they probably already topped them in terms of real paid customers.

Spotify manipulates the numbers in a clever way. They regularly offer a "Pay only 1$ a month for the 3 first months" plan (wich is essentialy a free plan in disguise), after wich a lot of people cancel their paid subscription , but Spotify keeps reintroducing the plan several times a year, wich is enough to have a substantial mass of 1$ a month customers , and therefore claim they have 20 million paid customers. Maybe only a third of that are regular paid customers ( like on the AppleMusic plan ).

Spotify generates ridiculous payments for artists, and essentialy only exists as a vehicle for its shareholders to get into a massive Wall Street IPO ( wich seems more and more compromised, as a lot of people are starting to understand the whole convoluted scheme the company is based on )

 

[stanman64]

Unless they had an iPhone before... and already did the trial.

They might have gotten a new iPhone for Christmas... but Apple Music has been around since June 30th.

This is true. Even if a fraction of those are new users though, it could still be north of a couple million. It's hard to say though without numbers.

 

[chasemac]

Let's all drink to the death of a clown.

 

[lowendlinux]

Google Nexus phones make up 0.1% of the worldwide smartphone market share.

Using your logic, that's an abysmal failure by Google!

In overall market share it is a failure but Google's intent isn't for nexus to be a market leader it's intended to be a reference for OEM's.

===

I don't know why Apple can't get any love for this product streaming is still one of those places where there is still a great deal of competiton and I'd like it to stay that way. I don't want a duopoly like we have in lots of areas of tech.

 

[coffeemadmanUK]

Well then don't switch. I've always found it funny when people who "don't care" always go to posts to comment and tell everyone they don't care. I don't care about Android or Windows but I don't go to those forums and tell them I don't care about the products. Interesting.

It's a discussion. It would be terribly dull if the only people who responded to anything only had positives to say.

I never, ever understood this kind of comment - "If you don't like it don't comment". To improve anything (and everything can be improved) you need negatives. You can't improve anything with a positive.

As a business, you want everyone to care. You want more customers. So it's always helpful to know who doesn't care because you want to make them care. So how about asking why they don't care? Do they know what benefits come from the product? Are they with a competitor? What can we do to convert them?

But nope. We go down the boring, simple and easy route of dismissal. Well done all.

 

[chasemac]

delete

 

[QuiteSure]

I've been surprised at how much I like AppleMusic. Just wish that marking a song or album as a favorite actually improved accessibility to that song/album, instead of just offering better suggestions for other music I may like (which is not a bad feature, but just limited for me).

 

[bushido]

the Taylor Swift impact!

 

[Fuchal]

The wife and I both love Apple Music. We've used everything, Spotify, Tidal, Rdio, Plex, Subsonic, and nothing has beat Apple Music for either of us.

 

[peterdevries]

Let's all drink to the death of a clown.

I'll drink to a new member of my ignore list.

 

[charlien]

I had it for the first 3 months it was released and hated it. I like to run and the music would just stop during my run. That and Ford sync had a strange love for a song and insisted on playing it. So I cancelled. I decided to give it another try and am very pleased both problems are gone. I'm figuring out the interface. I cancelled both Spotify and Pandora.

 

[spazzcat]

I signed up for the 3 month trial when Apple Music came out, thinking it might be a good way to discover new music. It was not. The suggestions it offered were definitely different from what is in my iTunes library. So different I was surprised by it, and unfortunately it also proved to be nothing I could listen to.

End result, I cancelled the service.

I still don't understand why they don't have a don't like/don't show again button.

 

[Popeye206]

Good numbers for Apple Music.... I hope we see some improvements in 2016 that make it more simple and more selection of listening options. I think Apple Music and CarPlay may be a nice combo to help expand the user base.

 

[1738]

So much development is necessary before the cluster that is Apple Music reaches 100 million users.

6 months ago I would have agreed with you. They've made a lot of UI tweaks to improve the interface and make the UI make sense.
[doublepost=1452518290][/doublepost]

I still don't understand why they don't have a don't like/don't show again button.

Long press on a suggestion in your For You section and it will give you the option to say "I don't like this recommendation"

 

[Dave245]

I'm not surprised, Music makes so much sense for those of us that are already in the Apple ecosystem, i have been using the service since it was first available and i'm really happy with it for £9.99 a month there is access to millions of albums, songs and music videos. I love the fact that they can be downloaded and listened to later, Apple have done a great job with Music.

 

[840quadra]

Considering 49.1% of all new device activations during the holidays were Apple devices, I'd think it is safe to say there's a good amount of 3 month free trials that won't end until March.

Curious how many of them actually are new subscribers. I am sure many people also received replacements for existing Apple devices from loved ones during the holidays.

 

[Freeks]

Tried it and didn't like. I'm a happy Spotify user

 

[iBug2]

Considering 49.1% of all new device activations during the holidays were Apple devices, I'd think it is safe to say there's a good amount of 3 month free trials that won't end until March.

You can use Apple Music on your old device or your computer as well. You do not need a new phone. So I don't see your point.