Apple Music Signs Up 11 Million Members in 5 Weeks

In its first five weeks, 11 million users have signed up for Apple Music, Apple’s new streaming music service, including 2 million who have

In its first five weeks, 11 million users have signed up for Apple Music, Apple’s new streaming music service, including 2 million who have signed up for the family plan, reported USA Today.

Apple Music Signs Up 11 Million Members in 5 Weeks

Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet software and services for Apple, told USA Today, “We’re thrilled with the numbers so far.”Apple Music launched on June 30 in 100 countries. Users of the streaming music service get a free three-month membership. At renewal, individual members will be charged $9.99 a month. Family plans are available for $14.99 a month for up to six people.Getting 11 million sign-ups in five weeks is, indeed, impressive, but that figure only tells part of the story. Those 11 million are free users.To make any money from these users, Apple needs to convert a certain percentage into paying subscribers, and to convert, those users need to get something from Apple Music they can’t get from competitors like Pandora, Spotify and Tidal. In other words, Apple needs to offer unique content and good value to convert free members into paying members.Another piece of the music puzzle is that Apple has to pay royalties to artists during the free trial period, thanks to Taylor Swift. That means that Apple has no income from this service yet, but it has expenses, not only in start-up costs but also in royalties.Its third quarter earnings show that the company has deep pockets and can afford the long play. How deep? Apple reported revenue of $49.6 billion and a profit of $10.7 billion for the quarter ended June 27, 2015.Insider Take:So is Apple Music a success? It is off to a good start, but not yet.Apple’s goal is to sign up 100 million subscribers, said Digital Music News, quoting anonymous sources. If that’s true, Apple Music would overshadow all other streaming music services. Of its competitors, Spotify has the highest number of paid subscribers at 20 million from more than 75 million active users, a 26.6% conversion rate. While that is an impressive conversion rate, Spotify launched in October 2008, so it has had almost seven years to earn it.Apple has name recognition and a streaming music service with unique features, but it still needs to woo free members into becoming subscribers before it can call Apple Music a success.

Filed in Business Strategy, Entertainment and Streaming, News

Dana E. Neuts

Dana Neuts is Subscription Insider's Editorial Director, covering our daily subscription news as well as member features, case studies, premium content, and reports. Dana is also a writer, editor, marketer and communications professional. Her work has appeared in AARP Bulletin, The Seattle Times, Seattle Business, 425 Business, 425 Magazine, South Sound Magazine, Northwest Travel and more. Her specialties include business writing, community news, senior issues, travel and, of course, subscriptions!