Apple Music hits 11 million subscribers: Why Spotify isn't worried
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Corey Fedde Staff
On Friday, officials announced Apple Music reached an all-time high for paying subscribers.
"The Talk Show,"聽, aired an exclusive interview with two Apple senior vice presidents, Craig Federighi and Eddy Cue. Among many details of Apple鈥檚 business, the duo announced that Apple Music had 鈥渏ust passed over 11 million Apple Music subscribers.鈥�
The 11 million subscriber mark is in line with market expectations after the Financial Times broke the story of Apple Music . Still, the new high demonstrates rapid growth for the young music streaming service and an industry that is in flux.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good news that Apple is making streaming work, but it is also going to accelerate the decline of downloads,鈥� Media analyst Mark Mulligan told the Financial Times. He added that at Apple Music's current rate, it had 鈥渢he potential to be the leading music subscription service sometime in 2017.鈥�
For now, Spotify remains a dominating force in the music streaming industry. In June, Spotify breezed聽.听
What the raw numbers don鈥檛 reveal is Apple's key distinction: speed. Apple Music reached an impressive level of market share聽much faster than other services, as 海角大神 reported in October. Spotify launched in the US in July 2011 and reached 10 million paid subscribers in May 2014, almost three years later. Apple Music launched in June 2015 and gained 10 million paid subscribers in seven months.听
The business models of the two streaming services differ. Spotify has a free tier of users that it tries to attract to paying for the service; as a result, its user base of 20 million paying subscribers is supplemented by , according to The Verge.
Apple Music started with a three-month trial, which will soon end for most users, and only offers a paid service. For many, Apple Music may also be a convenience decision, as Mr. Federighi and Mr. Cue also announced Apple has 1 billion devices in use.
Regardless of model, both companies, and others in the industry, are competing for a massive market.
In the first half of 2015, 鈥渕usic downloads and streaming services accounted for more than in the United States,鈥� according to data from Statista. Data from the Recording Industry Association of America shows that in 2013, online music streaming services and that .
The potential for disruption and reshuffling in the industry is also high.
Pandora, the online radio behemoth, is聽, reports The New York Times. The company ended the year with 81.1 million users.
In an investor note on Friday, Edison Investment Research predicted that Spotify would be the likely buyer if Pandora decides to sell.
