Nearly Half of Apple Music Users in U.S. No Longer Using Free Trial

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A new study by consumer research firm MusicWatch finds that 77% of iOS users in the United States are aware of Apple Music, with 11% currently using the streaming music service. Additionally, among those that signed up for Apple Music's three-month trial, 48% said they are no longer using the service and 61% reported they have turned off the auto-renewal subscription option in iTunes.

AppleMusicForYou
Apple Music has attracted more users from Spotify Premium than ad-supported services such as Spotify Free and Pandora:

More than one quarter (28 percent) of Spotify Premium customers also use Apple Music, but the draw from popular ad-supported services is more modest: Just 11 percent of Spotify Free users, and 6 percent of Pandora users, now use Apple’s offering.

“In terms of benchmarking Apple Music, 40 percent of iOS users are buying digital downloads from iTunes, suggesting trial of Apple Music could be higher,” said Russ Crupnick, managing partner of MusicWatch. “That’s the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good services currently exist.”

While nearly half of iOS users that have tried Apple Music are no longer using the service, with some maintaining their loyalty to Spotify, Pandora and other rivals, the study finds that 64% of current users said they were "extremely" or "very likely" to pay for an Apple Music subscription following the free trial period, which concludes on September 30 for those that signed up on launch day.

The research study also claims that 30% of Apple Music users listen to Beats 1, while 27% use Apple Music Connect. MusicWatch's data is based on an August 2015 survey of 5,000 U.S. consumers age 13 and older, and the results were weighted to the U.S. population. The research firm has been cited by publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Fortune.

Update: In a statement to The Verge regarding this survey, Apple said 79 percent of people who signed up for the Apple Music free trial are still using Apple Music.

Tags: Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music Guide, MusicWatch

Top Rated Comments

pwhitehead Avatar
pwhitehead
78 months ago
They should seriously consider student discount option.
We gotta get permission from Taylor Swift first, lol...
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smithrh Avatar
smithrh
78 months ago
Have stopped using it for the most part, and also actively researched how to turn off auto renewal, which I did a couple of weeks ago.

It's simply too much of a mess right now to deal with.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Goldfrapp Avatar
Goldfrapp
78 months ago
They should seriously consider student discount option.

Spotify offers 50% off.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
flur Avatar
flur
78 months ago
They need to fix all the broken crap that borks users libraries and mismatches music and artwork. It's pretty sad that 60% of the people who tried don't want to renew. I am in that camp, because AM trainwrecked my music files.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Albright Avatar
Albright
78 months ago
Count me in the "still using it and haven't turned off autorenewal" camp. I like what Apple Music is offering me; though, to be fair, I never really used Spotify or other services, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing from them. Still, I've found Apple Music a great service for not only listening to my own music but finding new and interesting stuff that I probably would have ignored in the album-buying days.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vmachiel Avatar
vmachiel
78 months ago
They should seriously consider student discount option.
What? 10 bucks a month is not that much for free choice music streaming. I think they are suffering more from the bugs and UI than anything else.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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