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With Apple Music at 20M Users, Spotify Hits 50M Paying Subscriber Milestone

Thursday March 2, 2017 12:26 pm PST by Juli Clover
Spotify this afternoon announced that it has hit a new milestone, reaching a total of 50 million paying subscribers. That's up from 40 million in September, suggesting Spotify is growing at a rapid pace despite the surging popularity of Apple Music.

As of December, Apple Music had over 20 million paying subscribers, and if the service has been growing at its typical pace, that number could now be somewhere around 22 million. Apple Music had 15 million subscribers in June of 2016 and 17 million subscribers in September of 2016.


Spotify is Apple Music's staunchest rival and over the course of the last year, the two music services have clashed several times due to Apple Music's tactic using exclusives to lure new customers. Spotify in August made headlines when it allegedly started punishing artists who agreed to Apple Music exclusives, displaying their content less prominently and offering fewer promotional opportunities.

Spotify denied the claims, but the relationship between the two has grown increasingly heated as Apple Music's popularity grows. Both services are now testing new features and subscription models to attract new users.

Going forward, Apple plans to use original television programming to entice subscribers, debuting shows like Carpool Karaoke on Apple Music. Spotify, meanwhile, has recently started testing a lossless version of its streaming service to attract audiophiles.

Tags: Spotify, Apple Music Guide
[ 227 comments ]


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AppleFan91
32 months ago
Interesting. I like Apple Music a lot personally and it's good to see Spotify growing as well. This will lead to competition and improvements which ultimately benefit the consumer.
Rating: 19 Votes
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Corrode
32 months ago
I'm quite happy with Apple Music but find Spotify very tempting. Better playlists (imo) and user-curated and shareable playlists, direct to Sonos support, and now this lossless function are all things I wish Apple Music had.
Rating: 13 Votes
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a.gomez
32 months ago
There is no competition - right back to spotify after trial - it really is the best service hands down. I have a family plan with 3 members... Not sure how that works when they count.
Rating: 12 Votes
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robjulo
32 months ago
Oh good lord, how many people do you think are really in that number? That promotion just started, it only applies to new subscribers and it only applies to digital subscriptions.

Neil Cybart (Very smart apple analyst) made a note on his podcast that "paying" includes people who got Spotify for free because they subscribed to the NYTimes.

Can anyone verify?

If that is the case then the number Spotify gives is not nearly as valuable as it would seem on the surface.

Rating: 12 Votes
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keysofanxiety
32 months ago

There is no competition - right back to spotify after trial - it really is the best service hands down. I have a family plan with 3 members... Not sure how that works when they count.


I don't know about mostly. They aren't a new company with a ton of promotions out there anymore. They have 30 million more than Apple. That's a lot.


Well, Apple Music is good. Spotify is good too. They're both good!

Not so long ago, there was no legal way to listen to an album, a band, or even a song, without buying the single or album — or hoping the radio plays it.

It's much better now. I love how easy it is these days for people to legally discover and listen to new music. And sure, it may not financially benefit the artist as much as they'd like.

But simply a confirmed number of song plays on a streaming application is infinitely more tangible than an album floating on a torrent website.
Rating: 9 Votes
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B.K.
32 months ago
I will never directly pay for a music subscription service. That being said, I am an Amazon Prime member. I dowloaded their music app, its pretty good.
Rating: 7 Votes
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B.K.
32 months ago

I'm curious. Why not pay for the music subscription?

I do not listen to music enough to justify subscribing. Plus, I already have a large collection of music that I can listen to when I do feel like listening.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Woyzeck
32 months ago
I have Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. While I use Spotify daily I rarely start Apple Music and I never listen to Amazon.

Reasons ?
Spotify has the better UI and a much better recommendation and channel system.
Rating: 5 Votes
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LordVic
32 months ago

Anybody have any numbers for Google Play Music? Can't find it for some reason...


its an odd thing. Google Never ever releases numbers on GPM. I honestly don't expect ti to be in the top 5 of streaming services. While it's available for all platforms, Google does almost nothing to advertise it's existence.
Rating: 5 Votes
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joshen
32 months ago

Subscribers =/= Paying Subscribers

it's clear even from their tweet. It's mostly free promotions from carriers, etc, good to inflate the upcoming IPO offer.

Mostly? :rolleyes:

Anyway, let's not act as if it isn't common practice to include offers and promotions. I doubt Apple excludes them in their 20m number either.
Rating: 5 Votes

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