Apple Music now has 13 million subscribers. This news comes from CEO Tim Cook in the tech giant's second quarter earnings release that was tempered by some bad news where it reported its first revenue decline since 2003.
When numbers were last reported in February, Apple Music had 11 million subscribers, so this type of growth is promising for the relatively new streaming service.
2 million new subscribers in as many months shows that Apple is able to gather new a lot of new users beyond just the initial three month trial period kicked off on June 30 when the service was launched. It has boasted a number of exclusives from the likes of Drake, Future and others, while also having the embedded advantage of being easily integrated into millions of users' iPhones and iTunes.
It still faces still competition from other services like Spotify, TIDAL, Deezer and others that cover other countries globally. Spotify now boasts over 30 million paying subscribers and many more free users.
TIDAL has had several wins this year with the exclusive on Kanye West's The Life Of Pablo gather loads of new subscribers, despite a messy rollout. It also is the exclusive home to stream Beyoncé's Lemonade, though it was put on iTunes two days later. As the sole place to stream Prince's music, it also had a boon there after his untimely death last week.
As competition heats up, services will demands more of artists to try and differentiate their service from the rest of the pack. Apple Music is lucky to have the backing of the most valuable company in the world, but it will be interesting to see how it uses its vast resources and to position itself for global domination as it enters year two.
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