Apple Music hits milestone in subscribers
It might only be six months old, but Apple Music, the tech giant's music streaming service, reportedly passed a major milestone -- 10 million paid subscribers, according to the Financial Times. To put that number in perspective, it took one of its most prominent competitors, Spotify, nearly six years to hit that milestone, CNET reports.
It isn't hard to understand why Apple Music would catch on so quickly, even with a monthly fee of $9.99 (after a free 3-month trial). Anyone who has recently purchased or updated an iOS device immediately receives an offer to sign up for the service right away. Also, in keeping with the old adage that no publicity is bad publicity, the media attention around Taylor Swift's initial boycott of Apple Music before eventually allowing her album "1989" to stream on the service built up an incredible amount of hype.
Less than two months ago, the service was also extended to Google's Android operating system, the most-used mobile operating system worldwide, CNET noted.
All of this being said, Apple Music still has a ways to go to catch up with Spotify. That service has 20 million paid subscribers and another 75 million who stream tunes -- with ads -- for free.
Which competitor is Apple probably less concerned about? Tidal, the streaming service from Jay Z and a who's-who of music superstar co-owners that includes Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye West, and Madonna had just one million paid subscribers as of September.
