Apple Music Turns One Year Old With 15 Million Subscribers on Board and a Redesign on the Way

Today marks the one year anniversary of Apple Music, which launched in 110 countries on June 30, 2015. The streaming music service was initially limited to the Mac and iOS devices, and it has since expanded to Apple TV and Android.

Apple's streaming music service, an evolution of the Beats Music service it acquired in 2014, has steadily gained listeners over the past twelve months, reaching over 15 million paying subscribers as of WWDC 2016 earlier this month.

apple_music_adele_desktop
Spotify still remains the world's most popular streaming music service, with roughly twice as many paying subscribers as Apple Music, but the Swedish rival has been available in Europe for nearly eight years and in the U.S. since 2011.

Assuming that Apple Music maintains its current pace of growth, it is reasonable to assume that it will eventually eclipse Spotify as the top streaming service worldwide, with Apple Music benefiting greatly from its prominent placement within a default app on iOS and a lengthy three-month free trial to get users hooked on the service.


Apple Music has received its share of criticism since launch, partly due to somewhat confusing layouts that can make it difficult to find content and easily manage downloaded or owned content versus streamed content. Apple's "Connect" social feature intended to allow artists to share content with fans also failed to take hold, with many quickly drawing comparisons to the ill-fated "Ping" social network that debuted as part of iTunes in 2010 but was officially canceled just two years later.

With iOS 10, Apple is undertaking a reinvention of the Apple Music experience on its mobile platform, completely revamping the app with new organization and a new design. The new design in particular has been controversial, with bold fonts standing in stark contrast to most of the rest of the operating system. But the new layout makes for a much more logical organization of content and features, with downloaded music receiving its own section and Connect receiving much less prominent placement.


Apple is also pushing forward its relationships with artists for Apple Music, working hard to secure exclusive content as it seeks to follow the model of "MTV in its Eighties and Nineties heyday" in becoming the go-to place for artists and content.

Apple Music is clearly still in its early days, with Apple still evolving its integration of the Beats Music team and their streaming service into iTunes and the stock Apple user experience across all platforms. But with strong subscriber growth and industry trends pointing toward a continued shift toward streaming services, it's clear this is where Apple's content future lies, whether it be the current music service or future video services.

Top Rated Comments

McFreggle Avatar
97 months ago
I have discovered 1741 great new tracks since the start of Apple Music.
I haven't missed Spotify a single moment.

Happy birthday, Apple Music.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
97 months ago
Happy Birthday to Apple Music. HOWEVER, please never ever take away my ability to purchase and download. I will never be a subscriber to a music streaming service and my loyalty will reside with the product that best serves my needs - namely, music downloading and cataloging.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jacobh101 Avatar
97 months ago
I use $4.99 student version - great value for the money, not too sure why people hate on it so much.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
citysnaps Avatar
97 months ago
I use $4.99 student version - great value for the money, not too sure why people hate on it so much.
I think it has to do with unhappy people feeling better and empowered when they can hate on something, someone, or some company.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FSMBP Avatar
97 months ago
The fact that they redesigned just a year after the release doesn't give me a warm & fuzzy feeling about Apple (same with watchOS). It's like they forgot about keeping things simple/streamlined (ie. Scott Forstall/Steve Jobs).
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zirel Avatar
97 months ago
The fact that they redesigned just a year after the release doesn't give me a warm & fuzzy feeling about Apple (same with watchOS). It's like they forgot about keeping things simple/streamlined (ie. Scott Forstall/Steve Jobs).
People like you are the reason why Steve Jobs was remembered and missed, he almost never listened to anyone's opinions.

If Apple Music didn't had a redesign, you'll be saying that "Apple seems to have abandoned it", "they are lazy and don't care", blah blah blah, now that they are doing an overhaul, you say that.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how NameDrop functions. As noted by The Washington...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
Apple 5G Modem Feature Triad

Apple to Discontinue Custom 5G Modem Development, Claim Reports

Wednesday November 29, 2023 4:19 am PST by
Apple is discontinuing in-house modem development after several unsuccessful attempts to perfect its own custom 5G modem chip, according to unconfirmed reports coming out of Asia. According to the operator of news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, supply chain sources related to Apple's 5G modem departments claim that the company's attempts to develop its own modem have...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...