|
Apple is locked in race for subscribers with
Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google and others as streaming
music becomes the dominant form of paid music consumption.
Apple's number compares to 71 million premium subscribers at the
end of 2017 at industry leader Spotify, which plans to list
shares in the coming weeks on the New York Stock Exchange under
the ticker symbol SPOT.
Apple said Eddy Cue, senior vice president of internet software
and services, disclosed the most recent subscriber number for
Apple Music at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
Amazon Music Unlimited has 16 million paying subscribers, and
Pandora Media Inc has 5.48 million total subscribers. Google
does not release paid subscriber numbers for its service, Google
Play Music.
Apple, Spotify, Google and other services charge $9.99 a month
for music. Amazon offers its service to members who already pay
for its Prime membership, which includes shipping, video content
and other benefits, for $7.99 per month.
In addition to its paid service, Spotify also offers an free
ad-supported version to help draw users into the service. Apple
Music does not offer an ad-based version and instead uses a
three-month free trial to lure customers. Cue said Apple has 8
million subscribers currently in the free trial period, the
first time Apple has disclosed the number of trial users.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by David Gregorio)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
