It has been less than a year and a half since Apple Music officially launched, but the short time frame hasn’t stopped it from reaching impressive highs or accruing sizable numbers. Today, in an interview with Billboard, Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Products, and one of the main men behind the highly successful Apple Music streaming product, revealed that the relatively new platform has hit the 20 million subscriber milestone.
Apple Music announced that it had collected hit 10 million subscribers at the beginning of 2016, less than a year into its life. The rate at which Apple is signing up new customers is to be applauded, as it's not many companies that can double their customer base in less than a year after starting from scratch—scratch of course here being a relative term, as no company with the resources Apple has access to is ever beginning a new project with nothing.
While 20 million paying subscribers is still only about half of what Spotify has been able to amass, it still makes Apple Music the second-largest on-demand streaming music site out there. Apple is far ahead of competitors like Tidal, Napster and the handful of others that have managed to stay in business in this incredibly difficult industry.
It is worth noting that Apple Music’s 20 million subscribers, while impressive, doesn't tell the whole story. Spotify may have 40 million subscribers, but that number only reflects those that are paying. The Swedish streaming firm actually has over 100 million users, as many of them opt to listen to the ad-supported free tier, which Apple Music does not offer. That fact should further underline how impressive Apple’s customer acquisition rate is, since the company offers less time for new potential subscribers to use the service for free and become accustomed and hooked to it than something like Spotify.
Every major player in the streaming music space is collecting users at rates that are speeding up, which isn’t itself entirely shocking, given how streaming music in general is catching on with music lovers worldwide. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of awareness of the format and drawing new customers. But with companies like Apple upping its marketing spend and frequently partnering with big-name artists for exclusives, bigger numbers are surely in the near future for the company, which originally appeared to set a goal of 100 million paying customers.
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