Apple Music Beats Spotify in Monthly Unique Users Thanks to 3-Month Free Trial

Wednesday March 29, 2017 6:11 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple Music doesn't have the highest number of paid subscribers compared to Spotify, but it does have an edge up on its competitors -- a higher number of monthly unique users on mobile devices, thanks to its generous three-month free trial.

According to a recent report published by mobile analytics firm Verto (via TechCrunch), Apple Music had 40.7 million unique monthly mobile users during February of 2017. Verto only tracks Apple Music usage on mobile devices, so Apple's unique monthly user number could be higher.


Comparatively, streaming radio service Pandora had 32.6 million unique monthly users during February, while Spotify had 30.4 million. iHeartRadio saw the fourth highest number of monthly visitors on mobile at 28.5 million, while SoundCloud came in fifth with 25.7 million. For Spotify, Pandora, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud, mobile and PC visits are counted.

According to Verto, which gathers its data from 20,000 users in the UK and US and then pairs it with analytics information, Apple Music has the most monthly unique users due to the three-month free trial the company offers, which doubles the number of people that are using the Apple Music app in the United States.

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Apple has long offered three months of free music streaming when a user first signs up for Apple Music, two months longer than the trial period offered by Spotify.

As of December 2016, Apple Music has more than 20 million paid subscribers, a number that's been growing steadily since the service launched in 2015. Spotify, meanwhile, reached 50 million paying subscribers earlier this month.

Despite its lead over Apple Music, Spotify is taking cues from Apple. Earlier today, Spotify announced plans to debut an original show called "Traffic Jams," a copy of the "Carpool Karaoke" show Apple plans to launch on Apple Music.

Similar to Carpool Karaoke, in which celebrities and musicians will sing hit songs while in a car, Traffic Jams pairs well-known hip-hop producers and rappers, challenging them to produce a track in the backseat of a car.

Tag: Apple Music Guide
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drewyboy
37 months ago
I have to laugh at this article. Always spinning it to make Apple look like they're dominating. For smartphone articles it's always "but Apple is taking all the revenue". When it's something like this it's "but Apple has more unique users".

Always switching the criteria of success to make it look like Apple is always leading. Pathetic.
Rating: 13 Votes
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dmylrea
37 months ago
WOW! Surprising that more first time people came for a free service than a paid one. The sign of how good the service is is by how many people are willing to PAY for it, and SPOTIFY wins.

Gotta love these headlines.
Rating: 12 Votes
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DonniRJ
37 months ago
I just switched from Apple Music to Spotify, for the 3rd time already, Apple Music always breaks my music library! :mad:
Rating: 8 Votes
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Rainshadow
37 months ago
Interesting, I have 1000s of owned songs and an Apple Music subscription and I've never had any problems.

I like how they threw "Beats" in the title of the article. ;)
Rating: 7 Votes
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RiddlaBronc
37 months ago

WOW! Surprising that more first time people came for a free service than a paid one. The sign of how good the service is is by how many people are willing to PAY for it, and SPOTIFY wins.

Gotta love these headlines.

Yep, still havent used my apple music free trial because spotify is that good.
Rating: 7 Votes
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r03dz
37 months ago
Useless study is useless.
Rating: 6 Votes
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chafey
37 months ago
I don't understand why apple's music app is so bad. I tried to be a good fanboy but it just sucks compared to Spotify. Odd timing - today I cancelled my Apple Music sub and activated Spotify premium.
Rating: 5 Votes
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farewelwilliams
37 months ago
if there's no iTunes redesign this year, expect that number to drop.
Rating: 5 Votes
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ani4ani
37 months ago

Did I read that right? Only 60% of spotify users actually use the service in a given month?

On mobile devices...and since Spotify is available on way more non-mobile devices another headline would be easy to write about how few folks use AM on non-mobile.
Rating: 4 Votes
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bollman
37 months ago
I find all this very interesting.
35 years ago I listened to LPs, and radio
25 years ago I listened to CDs, and radio
20 years ago I listened to MP3s from Napster, and no radio
10 years ago I listened to podcasts and no radio
Today, I mostly listen to radio, via internet.
I have a Spotify family account, but I haven't started Spotify in months. I don't think I would miss it, really. And Apple Music is so far from what I would want it's not even relevant.

I'm fed up with choices and playlists. I like curated music, well done, very well done. Public Service Radio, that's where it's at.
Rating: 3 Votes

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