AppleInsider Staff
A day shy of its one-month anniversary, Apple Music has reeled in more than 10 million subscribers on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and iTunes, a report said Monday.
Anonymous sources connected to major music labels provided the supposed adoption numbers to HITS Daily Double, saying the swift and substantial uptake is surprising even for Apple. The data reportedly comes directly from Cupertino, which is sharing streaming statistics internally with content owners.
The report's veracity is questionable — the site calls its main news section the "Rumor Mill" — but 10 million subscribers in four weeks is within the realm of possibility for Apple's mammoth installed customer base. Earlier in July, for example, it was estimated that iOS 8.4 adoption hit 40 percent of compatible devices after just one week of availability. Apple Music launched at the end of June as part of iOS 8.4.
Lending credence to today's claims are remarks from Apple CEO Tim Cook, who last week during the company's third quarter conference call told investors that "millions and millions" have signed up for Apple Music's three-month trial. It remains to be seen whether trial users will make the jump to a paid single or family tier, or discontinue the service altogether.
The number compare favorably to competing streaming services like Spotify, which boasts about 20 million paying subscribers. Apple still has a ways to go before reaching Spotify's 75 million total active users or Pandora's 79.4 million. Unlike those services, which include metrics for free-to-stream tiers, Apple Music is completely subscription based.
Apple is rumored to be shooting for 100 million paying Apple Music subscribers, a lofty goal that would require not only new subscriber adds, but a significant number of switchers from other services.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
93 Comments
And you can't cancel during the trial period either!
To be clear: I'm not passing judgement on the service, it's just weird they don't allow you to stop participating when you want to, and instead you have to wait it out.
[quote name="tomhayes" url="/t/187381/apple-music-hits-10m-subscribers-in-four-weeks-report-says#post_2753279"]And you can't cancel during the trial period either!:lol: [/quote] Is anyone actually using it? You can't listen to albums, if certain sings on an album are duplicates from other albums, Apple Music does not play them. Pathetic.
I can believe that 10 million have signed up for now, but how many will remain once they need to pay for it? If they keep 80%, that would be impressive.
I am using it and I am playing albums almost exclusively.
I'm actually surprised by how low that number is, given the three-week trial period. But, I guess that word got out about the extent to which Apple Music takes over your music collection.
I chose to stick with iTunes Match, and not bother with trying out Apple Music. Way too many unknowns about how Apple Music will make changes to my existing music library, and whether these changes are irreversible should I choose to cancel Apple Music.
Would be worth trying if Apple kept it somewhat separate from iTunes. But, the way that Apple Music entangles itself with iTunes libraries is just asking for trouble, especially if someone only wants to try Apple Music out. If I hadn't already invested a decade compiling and curating my digital music collection, Apple Music would be a slam dunk. As it stands, it's way too big a risk, considering how much time it took for me to get my collection and iTunes Match to work the way I want.