Apple Music Beats Spotify in Monthly Unique Users Thanks to 3-Month Free Trial

[MacRumors]

Apple Music doesn't have the highest number of paid subscribers compared to Spotify, but it does have an edge up on its competitors -- a higher number of monthly unique users on mobile devices, thanks to its generous three-month free trial.

According to a recent report published by mobile analytics firm Verto (via TechCrunch), Apple Music had 40.7 million unique monthly mobile users during February of 2017. Verto only tracks Apple Music usage on mobile devices, so Apple's unique monthly user number could be higher.

Comparatively, streaming radio service Pandora had 32.6 million unique monthly users during February, while Spotify had 30.4 million. iHeartRadio saw the fourth highest number of monthly visitors on mobile at 28.5 million, while SoundCloud came in fifth with 25.7 million. For Spotify, Pandora, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud, mobile and PC visits are counted.

According to Verto, which gathers its data from 20,000 users in the UK and US and then pairs it with analytics information, Apple Music has the most monthly unique users due to the three-month free trial the company offers, which doubles the number of people that are using the Apple Music app in the United States.

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Apple has long offered three months of free music streaming when a user first signs up for Apple Music, two months longer than the trial period offered by Spotify.

As of December 2016, Apple Music has more than 20 million paid subscribers, a number that's been growing steadily since the service launched in 2015. Spotify, meanwhile, reached 50 million paying subscribers earlier this month.

Despite its lead over Apple Music, Spotify is taking cues from Apple. Earlier today, Spotify announced plans to debut an original show called "Traffic Jams," a copy of the "Carpool Karaoke" show Apple plans to launch on Apple Music.

Similar to Carpool Karaoke, in which celebrities and musicians will sing hit songs while in a car, Traffic Jams pairs well-known hip-hop producers and rappers, challenging them to produce a track in the backseat of a car.

Article Link: Apple Music Beats Spotify in Monthly Unique Users Thanks to 3-Month Free Trial

 

[farewelwilliams]

if there's no iTunes redesign this year, expect that number to drop.

 

[lobbyist]

ISWYDT

 

[michaelaye]

Maybe, make that 40.7 MILLION users?

 

[r03dz]

Useless study is useless.

 

[DonniRJ]

I just switched from Apple Music to Spotify, for the 3rd time already, Apple Music always breaks my music library!

 

[robbyx]

if there's no iTunes redesign this year, expect that number to drop.

I just broke free of iTunes. I'm testing out a combination of Swinsian for music library management and Google Music Unlimited. I maintain a large library and still buy lots of music. Unfortunately Apple Music really isn't geared for people like me. iCloud Music Library drives me nuts. I'm not a Google fan generally speaking but I like their music UI much better. Now I can maintain my library of purchased music on my machine and have access to that entire library plus anything in Google on all my devices. I don't want iCloud messing with my library. And Swinsian is so quick and responsive compared to that slug iTunes.

 

[Rainshadow]

Interesting, I have 1000s of owned songs and an Apple Music subscription and I've never had any problems.

I like how they threw "Beats" in the title of the article.

 

[jclo]

Maybe, make that 40.7 MILLION users?

Oops! Thank you for pointing that out. DERP.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

WOW! Surprising that more first time people came for a free service than a paid one. The sign of how good the service is is by how many people are willing to PAY for it, and SPOTIFY wins.

Gotta love these headlines.

 

[Dwalls90]

For the capital Apple has available to them, Spotify should be clinging to the edge of life at this point ... but it's not.

I shouldn't have issues queuing up songs that contain a mix of AM downloaded music, AM streamed music, and songs from my own library.

 

[itguy06]

Recently started a 3 month trial of Google Play Music and it may be the only one I actually pay for. Tried AM but too restrictive. Tried Spotify but just didn't seem that good. Pandora and Slacker got repetitive.

 

[RiddlaBronc]

WOW! Surprising that more first time people came for a free service than a paid one. The sign of how good the service is is by how many people are willing to PAY for it, and SPOTIFY wins.

Gotta love these headlines.

Yep, still havent used my apple music free trial because spotify is that good.

 

[iapplelove]

I'm so glad I'm not into music any longer.

 

[jlc1978]

I wonder what Apple's conversion rate is for free to paid when the trial ends. Spotify hovers at around 30% or so which is a good number. However, if Apple is near that % as well, something I do not know, then Apple could give Spotify a real run for their money, especially since Apple has a lot more cash to through at Apple Music.

MacWorld reports for Apple has had a better conversion rate but the numbers are a year old and may not reflect the current situation. If those numbers are still valid Apple could be a real threat. Note that Spotify's numbers are for the same period as well.

iTunes aside, it will not be the interface but the catalogue that matters; since it's easier to fix an interface than get more music, especially if you don't have a large cash reserve to cover payouts while you build your paid base.

 

[stevet]

Yep, still havent used my apple music free trial because spotify is that good.

What's better about it when comparing it to Apple Music?

 

[miknos]

If it was from the generous free trial, Google Play Music should have more users since they offer 4 months trial!

 

[Rob_2811]

How are they defining "paid subscribers" to get that 20 million figure I wonder?

Here in the U.K. one of our major carriers EE is giving away free six month Apple Music subscriptions to new and upgrading customers and have been for some time.

 

[Waughy]

Apple Music always breaks my music library!

I have had the same issue twice now. Went for the 1 month trial when it started, then again when I got a free 12 month sub through my carrier (Telstra) with my 7+. Some of my songs are live or alternate versions, and they end up being replaced by album versions. Cover art for a few albums gets messed up too.
I think I'll just stick to my ripped CD collection and free Spotify for my music. My library is safe that way.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Did I read that right? Only 60% of spotify users actually use the service in a given month?

 

[Hastings101]

Spotify is just too good to switch away from for me. Great UI, all my playlists etc. I wish they wouldn't try to compete with Apple with "original" anything, I see that just being a big waste of money that hurts them. I can't say I've ever seen a single Spotify ad in my life, only heard word of mouth, maybe they should do something about that.

 

[nfl46]

I am really surprised at that Google Play Music number. I expected way more than that.

 

[1applerules1]

if there's no iTunes redesign this year, expect that number to drop.

I wouldn't expect it to drop at all, that's a dumb expecation

 

[ani4ani]

Did I read that right? Only 60% of spotify users actually use the service in a given month?

On mobile devices...and since Spotify is available on way more non-mobile devices another headline would be easy to write about how few folks use AM on non-mobile.

 

[drewyboy]

I have to laugh at this article. Always spinning it to make Apple look like they're dominating. For smartphone articles it's always "but Apple is taking all the revenue". When it's something like this it's "but Apple has more unique users".

Always switching the criteria of success to make it look like Apple is always leading. Pathetic.