A new report citing information from industry sources is deeming Apple Music a big success — so far. The real test will come when the number of paying subscribers is determined.
Apple appears to be on a roll these days. The company is basking in the success of its recent launch of the new iPhones, the 6s and 6s Plus, which are expected to break sales records when released on Sept. 25.
Now, a new report indicates that the company's recently-introduced Apple Music streaming service is doing very well so far, beating some pundits' early expectations. According to the report, 15 million subscribers have signed up so far for the free three-month trial of Apple's new pay streamer. More importantly, half of those subscribers have not disabled the auto renew function that allows Apple to charge their cards once the free trial ends beginning Sept. 30.
According to music industry analyst Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research: "If Apple reports between 30 million and 50 million trialists by year-end, then we can consider it successful, he told the Post. "More than 5 million paying subscribers would be a success. Above 7 million would be a strong success," he added.
Mulligan expects that, while 35 to 45 percent of subscribers will make the initial payment for the service, about 20 to 25 percent will continue making payments monthly. A 25 percent conversion rate for trialists would be positive for the company. Spotify currently has 75 million subscribers, about 20 million of which receive the paid tier as opposed to the free version.
Synergy with the new iPhone releases should also help boost user numbers, as a version of the Apple Music app is preloaded onto the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, making it easier to check out the streaming service. With the recent release of iOS 9, Apple has also addressed many of the issues that plagued the app upon release, which caused some users to lose their music libraries and confused others.
Apple has begun spending millions on a media campaign promoting Apple Music and featured pop star the Weekend in a TV commercial for the service just broadcast on the Emmy Awards.
