Apple Music Now Has 36 Million Subscribers, Could Eclipse Spotify in United States This Year

Apple Music now has 36 million paying subscribers around the world, an increase from well over 30 million reported last September.

apple music logo
Apple confirmed the updated total to The Wall Street Journal, which today reported that Apple Music is growing at a faster pace than Spotify in the United States, and could soon eclipse the service in popularity in the country.

Apple's subscriber-account base in the U.S. has been growing about 5% monthly, versus Spotify's 2% clip, according to the people familiar with the numbers. Assuming those growth rates continue, Apple will overtake Spotify in accounts this summer.

On a worldwide scale, Spotify maintains a sizeable lead over Apple Music. The streaming music service revealed that it has 70 million paying subscribers a month ago, making it nearly twice as large as Apple Music. Spotify also has a free, ad-supported tier, giving it over 140 million listeners overall around the world.

Spotify expanded to the United States in 2011, while Apple Music simultaneously launched in over 100 countries in 2015. In terms of paid subscriptions, both services offer individual plans for $9.99 per month, student plans for $4.99 per month, and family plans sharable with up to six people for $14.99 per month.

Apple Music has the benefit of being preinstalled on hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads. It's also available on Mac, PC, Android, Apple Watch, Apple TV, vehicles equipped with CarPlay, Sonos, and HomePod.

Top Rated Comments

unobtainium Avatar
80 months ago
Spotify is superior in every way. Too bad Apple Music is gaining more subscribers. For many people, it’s just the default option because Apple pushes it so hard.

I could never give up the excellent music discovery on Spotify, nor could I live without Spotify Connect allowing me to seamlessly control playback from any device.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
XTheLancerX Avatar
80 months ago
Apple needs to revamp their family plan, having to set up ALL of your Apple IDs as a family before hand is the reason we don't use Apple Music. We all have our own payment methods, and want to keep it that way. Spotify's model of paying $14.99/mo for 6 completely independent accounts is amazing. So we went with that and not Apple Music.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bawstun Avatar
80 months ago
Spotify is better. They offer more, have better algorithms and recommended playlists, and their user interface is also superior.

Apple is catching up because it’s preinstalled on all devices sold. That’s it.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anzio Avatar
80 months ago
We absolutely love Apple Music. Hopefully this causes them to continue to improve it! Knocked it out of the park with iCloud Music Library and the Family Plan. Tried Spotify but it didn’t suit our needs.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iapplelove Avatar
80 months ago
I enjoyed my free trial. But not enough to keep subscribing.

Too many subscription services, so I chose not to subscribe to any.

I know I’m in the minority.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Avieshek Avatar
80 months ago
I enjoyed my free trial. But not enough to keep subscribing.

Too many subscription services, so I chose not to subscribe to any.

I know I’m in the minority.
You are not.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...