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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 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.
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.
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.
Tags: Spotify, Apple Music Guide
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Top Rated Comments
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15 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.
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.
15 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.
15 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.
Apple is catching up because it’s preinstalled on all devices sold. That’s it.
15 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.
Too many subscription services, so I chose not to subscribe to any.
I know I’m in the minority.
15 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.
15 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.
15 months ago
It's hard to bet against Apple in this space. They have the hardware/software advantage for services of any kind. They can also subsidize services profitability with hardware revenue although they haven't had to do that yet (and may never have to). Will investors bet big on Spotify which doesn't turn a profit and whose sole business model is to sell music at a profit margin that the rights holders want more of?
I'm not betting on Spotify to die, but I think Apple will win the profitability war easily even if they don't win the subscriber war.
I'm not betting on Spotify to die, but I think Apple will win the profitability war easily even if they don't win the subscriber war.
15 months ago
I guess it depends on what music you listen to…
Spotify caters for my pretty varied tastes with spot on recommendations and new discoveries.
Apple Music offers me their choice of "new" music in which I have mostly no interest. I am just not sure why that is, but…
YMMV, as usual.
As I have said before, I do not understand the mindset so many here have "Spotify must die!!111!!! So that Apple can "succeed".
Spotify caters for my pretty varied tastes with spot on recommendations and new discoveries.
Apple Music offers me their choice of "new" music in which I have mostly no interest. I am just not sure why that is, but…
YMMV, as usual.
As I have said before, I do not understand the mindset so many here have "Spotify must die!!111!!! So that Apple can "succeed".
15 months ago
I guess it depends on what music you listen to…
Spotify caters for my pretty varied tastes with spot on recommendations and new discoveries.
Apple Music offers me their choice of "new" music in which I have mostly no interest. I am just not sure why that is, but…
YMMV, as usual.
As I have said before, I do not understand the mindset so many here have "Spotify must die!!111!!! So that Apple can "succeed".
Can relate. I listen to all kinds of genres, and Spotify is great at mixing solid, reliable stuff with new, fresh stuff that I've never heard.
Meanwhile, Apple Music is like "oh you like folk? have you heard of Mumford & Sons?"
Lol
15 months ago
I guess it depends on what music you listen to…
Spotify caters for my pretty varied tastes with spot on recommendations and new discoveries.
Apple Music offers me their choice of "new" music in which I have mostly no interest. I am just not sure why that is, but…
That's because you're getting old. In my case, I am older than dirt and very little interest in music written after 1989.
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