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Apple Music Estimated to Have 8M Paying Subscribers, Predicted to Hit 20M by End of 2016

I wish I could've tried it already, but it still hasn't arrived to Taiwan. Even though Spotify here is less than $5, I have cancelled the subscription, since I find myself preferring to listen to the music collection I already had. Sure, it's great for new stuff you sometimes discover, but it annoys me that the iOS app will not work unless you have premium. No amount of troubleshooting will get rid of that gigantic force ya to get premium or die bug. So, just waiting for Apple Music to be available here and give the service a shot.
 
jaded-mandarin said:
Is it still a ridiculously unfinished, buggy and incoherent application? I didn't pay for any service prior to my free trial but a month in I was a fully paid up Spotify subscriber, it was that bad. Would have been so much more ideal for me if Apple Music was the platform it promised to be.

It just didn't really work. As in, the buttons I pressed did nothing.
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Depends on the way your brain is wired I suppose. Not an insult just a different way of working - It's fantastic for me and don[t have any issues. Simple to offline what you want and Love it on Apple TV now - I play music way more in the house now that I can just ask for it!
 
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0815 said:
How do they count my family subscription? As one, as five (what the max number of users on it are) or as four (which the actual number of active users on the subscription is) ? I would assume that there are tons of family subscriptions since it is a pretty good deal for a family.
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Your family subscription only counts as one. If the debit is hitting your credit card, you are the only paying subscriber. There's a distinction between a user and a paying subscriber.
 
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The initial three month trial was so bad for so many people that Apple will have to write off those customer forever.

I'll certainly never try it again unless a new free trial comes up.

Spotify are doing premium for three months at 99p and based on what I learned during the Apple Music trial, Spotify has the UX nailed.
 
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Precision Gem said:
I actually joined and am now paying. I dumped Netfix, and applied that what I was paying for to Apple Music. Netflix, other than a few series has crap for movies online. I find the Music service a lot of fun. I use it every day, we were using Netflix maybe once a month.
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I see what you're saying there. If you count dollars in relation to hours used, I get WAY more for my money with Apple Music than I do from Netflix. I'm keeping my Netflix though. The series' they have been releasing are fantastic.

I did the Apple Music trial, and dropped it after that and went back to Google Music. A few weeks ago though, I dropped Google and went back to Apple Music. Apple's suggestions are just better, and feel much more human. Google can sometimes be so focused in it's recommendations it becomes really repetitive and tends to focus too much on one specific band or bands that you've been listening to lately, forgetting about everything else you've said you've liked and have listened to in the past.
 
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RedOrchestra said:
"...expect it to throw everything it has got at getting the labels to agree to lower price point products..."

Yeah beat down the songwriters and artists BUT hold firm on YOUR profit margin - that's the stuff Apple.
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Apple pays artists even when the customer isn't paying Apple (3 month trial). Apple is being extremely generous.
 
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skiltrip said:
I see what you're saying there. If you count dollars in relation to hours used, I get WAY more for my money with Apple Music than I do from Netflix. I'm keeping my Netflix though. The series' they have been releasing are fantastic.

I did the Apple Music trial, and dropped it after that and went back to Google Music. A few weeks ago though, I dropped Google and went back to Apple Music. Apple's suggestions are just better, and feel much more human. Google can sometimes be so focused in it's recommendations it becomes really repetitive and tends to focus too much on one specific band or bands that you've been listening to lately, forgetting about everything else you've said you've liked and have listened to in the past.
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We loved "Orange is the new Blace", so next year when the new season comes out, I'll sign up again to Netflix. We tend to blow through a whole season in just one month or less.
 
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mrgeekguymd said:
They've got to make a switch to make all music available offline without ever having to touch anything again. That is the only issue I've got with the service.
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Do you have any idea what you are saying you want here? To make ALL music available offline without having to touch anything, they would need to download the entire Apple Music library to all devices... and continually update them. So this is a bit silly to ask for.

Its very easy to download things you are interested in... I do it usually with a playlist or album.
 
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After the 3 month trial, I was on and off because my daughter likes it. But it really is expensive considering that she listens to the same music most of the time. Although she likes the ability to access the rest of the music and listen if she wants to. But I am considering to just give her a music allowance of $10 a month. That way she can pick the song that is worth paying. That's about 120 song in a year, I would say that's a very good deal. Instead of not keeping any music after ending the subscription.
 
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Max Portakabin said:
The initial three month trial was so bad for so many people that Apple will have to write off those customer forever.

I'll certainly never try it again unless a new free trial comes up.

Spotify are doing premium for three months at 99p and based on what I learned during the Apple Music trial, Spotify has the UX nailed.
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They really dont to be honest......I've tried all the music services over the summer including Apple Music, Rdio and Spotify. Spotify actually has a very complicated interface having lots of swiping, scrolling and lots of taps to "go back" to where you were on the phone, iPad wasn't as bad. Rdio was the most elegant but was very different in functionality from iPhone to iPad and not consistant. Apple music was full of annoying bugs (many of which are now fixed, some remain) but has a very consistent interface on all platforms. But lets face it......none of them are really amazing. Its very hard to cram all the functionality people want in an app and then make it super easy to navigate. NO ONE has solved that problem yet.
 
convergent said:
Do you have any idea what you are saying you want here? To make ALL music available offline without having to touch anything, they would need to download the entire Apple Music library to all devices... and continually update them. So this is a bit silly to ask for.

Its very easy to download things you are interested in... I do it usually with a playlist or album.
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Yes, it is so silly to ask... Spotify has had this feature for years now. It isn't an issue whatsoever.
 
friedmud said:
My only question: when will it work with the Watch? That's the only reason I haven't tried it yet (still with Spotify)... I'm just waiting to see which service supports the Watch with offline music play first...
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It does work with the watch

zooby said:
More like expecting 20M if they get the **** together.
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It started a bit buggy. It's mostly ironed out. I have 17000 tracks successfully matched in iCloud music library. I no longer have the playlist issue I had when it started. It's hands down the best music subscription service on the market

LordVic said:
to be honest. Nobody knows the subscriber count. Apple isn't releasing the information. This is literally some analyst making another predicution without any real metrics to back it up. And considering we're still in the "honey moon" period where a lot of people are using free trials. its going to be impossible to know just how many people stick with it. That'll be the interesting notation if Apple ever releases the number.

I gave it a shot. Won't be using it. no Web streaming App and requirement of using iTunes is a non-starter for me and cancelled my trial.
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Apple does release subscriber numbers in investor calls. 6.5 million as of the last quarterly call
 
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I made the switch from Spotify to Apple Music last month. I have enjoyed the service, but their "for you" section really needs to improve. A lot of the suggestions are for bands/artists I don't want to listen to. I have a ton of iTunes credit, and the $10 vs. $13/month was a no brainer for the time being.

If Spotify were to offer me a discounted rate for six months or so, I would jump back. But I do like how AM is integrated into my iPhone, ATV, iPad.
 
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nburwell said:
I made the switch from Spotify to Apple Music last month. I have enjoyed the service, but their "for you" section really needs to improve. A lot of the suggestions are for bands/artists I don't want to listen to. I have a ton of iTunes credit, and the $10 vs. $13/month was a no brainer for the time being.

If Spotify were to offer me a discounted rate for six months or so, I would jump back. But I do like how AM is integrated into my iPhone, ATV, iPad.
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You do understand that Spotify is only $9.99 if you subscribe without going through the Appstore...right? That Appstore surcharge should be enough to make you sick.
 
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jonnyb098 said:
They really dont to be honest......I've tried all the music services over the summer including Apple Music, Rdio and Spotify. Spotify actually has a very complicated interface having lots of swiping, scrolling and lots of taps to "go back" to where you were on the phone, iPad wasn't as bad. Rdio was the most elegant but was very different in functionality from iPhone to iPad and not consistant. Apple music was full of annoying bugs (many of which are now fixed, some remain) but has a very consistent interface on all platforms. But lets face it......none of them are really amazing. Its very hard to cram all the functionality people want in an app and then make it super easy to navigate. NO ONE has solved that problem yet.
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Agree with the tapping but on Spotify the content is where I expect it to be as they use universal gestures and icons.

Apple Music is using a lot more of the more uncommon/non-natural gestures and taking the design chic to stupid (IMO) levels. Hiding the shuffle button for reasons of design dogma is not a good approach.
 
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friedmud said:
My only question: when will it work with the Watch? That's the only reason I haven't tried it yet (still with Spotify)... I'm just waiting to see which service supports the Watch with offline music play first...
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It does and has worked with the watch for awhile. Make a song available offline, add it to a playlist, and sync that playlist to your watch. As I am a runner, it has been great for me. I've went from a phone in an armband with wired ear buds to only my watch and a pair of Bluetooth ear buds.
 
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