Eddy Cue 'Thrilled With the Numbers' as Apple Music Hits 11 Million Users

[driceman]

Either Eddy needs to go or something significant in the Services department needs to change. Spotify made a significantly better music player on a much smaller budget with much less access to the most talented people in the industry than Apple has. Granted, Spotify has had several years to hone its app, but Apple Music is embarrassingly glitchy- it's the first time I've stopped using an Apple service out of genuine dislike. Last I checked, it was almost unusable.

Not only did it screw up my entire iTunes library and not seem to remember whether I owned the songs or not (meaning I couldn't go back to iTunes after the change with my library intact), but it also wouldn't play at random; when it did play, it was much slower than Spotify to start streaming on the exact same network connection; and when I made offline lists or playlists, random songs would simply disappear. Absolutely ridiculous. I'll stick with Spotify for my music. At least there I know my songs won't vanish for no reason.

 

[plexdk]

I agree with alot of you.. Haven't gotten used to it yet, still think there are more stuff with my alternative taste on spotify.. But I must admit that apple music shown me bands i didn't know about, which are very equal to my taste - spotify didn't really do that to me. In spotify i had to rely on the people i followed, to discover new music now and then.

 

[tentales]

The App Store is a mess, Siri still isn't on par with competitors, Maps still has annoying bugs, iAd is pretty much useless and iCloud isnt exactly stellar.

Why hasn't this guy been fired yet?

Coz the guy that would've is unfortunately 6' under and the smiling social activist is running the show.
Steve believed people prefer to own Music. Especially those without an unlimited broadband connection.

Apple always had trouble with online services: .Mac, MobileMe, iTunes Match and iCloud is still a mess, even though to a lesser extent.

 

[nando87]

It would be interesting to know how many people have downloaded the latest iOs version. I think Eddy Cue is Apple's Ballmer too.

 

[x0vash0x]

I agree with alot of you.. Haven't gotten used to it yet, still think there are more stuff with my alternative taste on spotify.. But I must admit that apple music shown me bands i didn't know about, which are very equal to my taste - spotify didn't really do that to me. In spotify i had to rely on the people i followed, to discover new music now and then.

This so freakin' much. Apple Music is about music discovery, not about managing a library. For music discover, it is the best out there. I'll be sticking with Apple Music because it is the best at music discovery and doesn't have social features as its main focus. Its about the music.

 

[tentales]

Thank God they didn't buy Spotify! Spotify works and is easy to understand! Can you imagine what they would have done to it? I used to get upset at Apple for not updating its software. Be careful what you wish for (iWork, iMovie, Yosemite). Until Apple gets its act together, it seems to only be able to make anything it touches worse.

You're probably right about Spotify, but Beats Music was dead last in subscriber numbers before Apple's acquisition, so Eddy is now celebrating an 11million trial users success. If Forstall got fired over Maps, maybe it is time for Eddy to cash in his options and take an early retirement.

 

[anomie]

Eddy Cue really, really needs to go. If only Cook had the balls.

Well, seems like he is very successful atm. And does it speak for itself that you didn´t add a single argument to your claim? I think so.

 

[anomie]

Thank God they didn't buy Spotify! Spotify works and is easy to understand! Can you imagine what they would have done to it? I used to get upset at Apple for not updating its software. Be careful what you wish for (iWork, iMovie, Yosemite). Until Apple gets its act together, it seems to only be able to make anything it touches worse.

Just your opinion. To me spotify sucks (GUI + attitude) and I cant wait to watch it going down.

 

[afairhurst]

So far I've only really been using the curated For You playlists (I've not listened to Beats 1, The A-Lists, or Radio stations). Time and time again the For You suggestions are superb. In my experience, in this area, Apple has done a great job and I'm very likely to continue the subscription once the trial ends. I can't comment on other aspects of the service.

 

[shaunvis]

I cancelled my sub after the first day. The sound quality is horrible.

Beats1 sounds good. Any other station sounds like crap. It's like the volume is 75% of everything else. So if I'm listening with in ear headphones, I have the volume way up to put it at a decent level. Then I play a song I own and have stored on my phone and get my ear drums blasted.

In my car, I have to crank the volume to max (40) for it to be loud. My music or Beats 1 hits the same volume with it set at 30.

I spent about 2 hours on chat support with Apple, transferred up the chain of support. Finally a guy tells me "Our engineers wanted it that way".

Why would your engineers WANT it to sound like crap and be at an abnormally low level? I'm certainly not paying for that.

 

[FieldingMellish]

Is Eddie Cue related to Maggie Q?

 

[Michael Scrip]

The App Store is a mess, Siri still isn't on par with competitors, Maps still has annoying bugs, iAd is pretty much useless and iCloud isnt exactly stellar.

Why hasn't this guy been fired yet?

Sure... but that's not what my comment was about.

The earlier poster said Apple Music was under Craig Federighi... not Eddy Cue.

I was just correcting that.

 

[Pagemakers]

I'll be going back after 90 days so make that 10,999,999 signed up users.

Apple Music needs a lot of work. It's not even close to its rivals yet.

 

[leo.andres.21]

11M free users 0 paid subscribers. Who has not pre-cancelled their subscription?

Why pay for something you get for free for 3 months?

 

[leo.andres.21]

If, and only if, the product is good and people actually stay on the service for 3 months.
Which right now, isn't the case for a lot of people.

You have to wait till the first 3 months to end, before you see the real numbers. And having a few millions, less than the currently reported 11 million trials would already be a lot. In what world does millions of people considered few?

 

[SMIDG3T]

A LOT of people are forgetting that Apple Music has only been out for FIVE weeks and while Spotify are its main competitor, has been out since 2008.

Let's not compare yet shall we?

 

[Mildredop]

So they release these 'impressive' numbers, but not the sales numbers of the Watch.

I wonder why...

 

[DamoTheBrave]

11 million Apple Music free trial users / 800 million iTunes account holders = ~1.4%

Spotify has 75 million users of which 20 million pay.

Nothing to brag about Eddy.

Spotify is 9 years old. Apple Music is less than three months old.
They definitely have things to fix and features to add but this has been a strong start by any reasonable standards.
Very much looking forward to the improvements though.

 

[navaira]

I hope to God Apple never adds social features to Apple Music. The day it does, I'm canceling.

Don't click the "Connect" tab, you're in for a shocker...

For me it works better than anything the competition (that Ive tried; Spotify & Rdio) has to offer. Maybe you did a poor job at entering genres/artist when you signed up.

That is actually true. Since I am in the Netherlands, AM decided I must love Dutch artists. After clicking away 30 or so Dutch acts I got so tired I started accepting acts like D'Angelo (I like him, but not THAT much) just as long as I could get rid of Herman Brood, Acda En De Munnik etc. Despite that, in the first week all recommendations I got were Michael and Janet Jackson, none of whom were in the "initial bubbles". Now that I spent lots of time hearting other acts, I get 95% R&B/hip-hop playlists and once in a blue moon some 80s pop. One single time I got a Frankie Knuckles playlist, which I really enjoyed, hearted it, but nothing similar came up afterwards. I am yet to see a heavy metal, indie rock, folk or ambient playlist.

Also I still believe that since iTunes has access to my entire library, play counts, "last played" statistics etc., I shouldn't be required to click any bubbles at all unless the library is empty. I own maybe five hip-hop albums, but judging by For You recommendations that is DEFINITELY not enough and I must repent for my sins. Maybe if I buy a pair of Beats headphones I'll get a code that removes some hip-hop from my For You section?

 

[bmodi]

Does anyone here really think the numbers actually anounced are that relevant? We talk now about 5 weeks...come on....

I did not test AM therefore i think i am neutral.

From a business point of view, if you talk about to get a streaming service to be successful, do you really think anyone at Apple (or in any other company) does think in weeks?

The thing is, for Apple this service is important or at least i think that it is important for apple because this service is all about music. And Apple has the options and the power to make this service successful and to leave all the other streaming services behind them.

This service has a strategic relevance for them and therefore you have to think in "years" and not in weeks or month....

 

[happycadaver]

As long as the initial trial period is running, these stats mean nothing at all. The 2 million family plan subscribers don't impress either. We will see by the end of 2015 how the music streaming market is really doing for Apple.

 

[OllyW]

So much for the 100 million subscriber rumour if they're only up to 11 million users when it's free.

It was a rumour from The Associated Press but there was no timeline attached to the article and it could be a target for the first three months or even the first three years, so it's too early to brand it a flop.

Even though I'm not interested in signing up to Apple Music myself, I expected a lot more than 11 million to sign up for the three month trial, especially with the simultaneous worldwide launch and it being embedded into iOS 8.4. I guess I'm not the only one who isn't comfortable with the concept of renting music.

 

[Pagemakers]

What would be more informative would be how many of the iTunes user base have signed up to apple music for FREE. If it's only 5-10% then it's very unimpressive.

 

[2457282]

I have bought every device Apple has ever made with the exception of the Lisa, and the Mac Pro. I use every service Apple has.... Except Apple Music. I am the old guy who likes to own. Never used Spotify or Pandora. I use iTunes Radio just to hear new music, but then I buy. I have not even signed up for the free trial. I just don't see the need for something like this when I own over 20k songs. Maybe one day I will try this, but I am not a fan of subscription based anything. That is why MS, although finally putting out better stuff, is doomed in my opinion (although I am probably exaggerating their situation )

 

[rodpascoe]

What would be more informative would be how many of the iTunes user base have signed up to apple music for FREE. If it's only 5-10% then it's very unimpressive.

Eh? That would be incredibly impressive?

It seems many people on here have never run a business and have very high expectations.

A sale of a product to 5% of your previous/existing customer base would be amazeballs in any business product launch.