Apple Music reportedly signed up more than 10 million subscribers in its first month

Apple Music price

A new report Tuesday by Hits Daily Double alleges that Apple’s new streaming-music services has signed up more than ten million customers in its first four weeks. Citing “inside sources at some of the major labels,” the streaming statistics was reportedly shared with content owners by Apple itself.

Apple Music is free during its first three months, after which iTunes will charge customers’ credit card on file $9.99 per month to continue using the service, or $14.99 for a family of six.

“Some streaming numbers (notably on a couple of cutting-edge hip-hop titles) are actually competitive with Spotify’s,” reads the article.

The publication’s sources were apparently “surprised” by how many people have signed up for the service during its initial free trial period. Of course, it remains to be seen what the churn rate of Apple Music will be after the three-month trial expires.

By comparison, Spotify recently hit 75 million total active users and 20 million paid accounts. Pandora currently has about 80 million listeners.

The ten million milestone for Apple Music compares favorably to Apple’s self-imposed goal of signing up about hundred million customers before the end of 2015, potentially giving Apple Music an annualized revenue in the ballpark of $12-$15 billion.

Another hint of Apple Music’s strong uptick: the adoption rate of iOS 8.4, which is required to use Apple Music, surpassed that of Android KitKat and Jelly Bean, which have been around for two or more years.

Reviewers agree that Apple Music is a comprehensive service well worth the asking price, but many have slammed its confusing interface and pointed out several teething issues, such as problems with DRM, iTunes Match, offline syncing and more.

Apple Music teaser 001

A well known Apple blogger, Jim Dalrymple, has caused quite a commotion within the halls of Cupertino after publishing a post titled “Apple Music is a nightmare and I’m done with it” in which he outlines his frustration with the service and the fact that Apple Music has managed to erase thousands of songs from his personal music library.

After discussing the matter with Apple PR, Dalrymple published a follow-up post that sets the record straight on some of the issues he’s experienced with Apple Music.

“The good news is that I have about 99 percent of my music back,” he said.

“The missing and duplicate song issues that we’ve all seen in Apple Music are being fixed shortly,” he added. “They are certainly aware of what’s been going on, I can assure you.”

However, he still has “no idea what happened to the other songs” that are still missing. Given Dalrymple’s influence in the Apple community, it’s not surprising that Joy of Tech ran an amusing comic on “Where Jim Dalrymple’s music went.”

Will you be making the jump to a paid Apple Music tier after the trial period is over, or discontinuing the service altogether?

Source: Hits Daily Double