Apple Music has grown quickly since its introduction some eight months ago, to amass a total of over 11 million subscribers thus far, according to the company. Now some observers are wondering whether Cupertino's recently launched streaming service can actually overtake leader Spotify in the intensifying music streaming wars.
Speculation is that Apple's growth rate is such that it may be poised to eventually beat rival Spotify in the most important category of paid subscribers. Apple recently reported that it already has 11 million paying subscribers forking over the $9.99 per month fee that it charges for unlimited streaming access. Spotify charges the same amount for the paid tier of its streaming service, and the last officially released number of paid subscribers to its service exceeds 20 million. Although that's about double the number of Apple subscriptions, observers note that it took Spotify over five years to do what Apple has accomplished in little over six months.
Certainly being overtaken by Apple Music would be a big blow to Spotify. Not only would it lose bragging rights as the world's number one music streaming service, it would also lose clout in terms of negotiating exclusives and licensing deals with record labels. While Apple can also afford to treat its music streaming service as a loss leader if unprofitable, Spotify doesn't have that luxury with its core business, which has been losing money for years.
But is Apple Music really on such a growth tear that Spotify should be concerned about losing its top dog status? It looks as if speculation of a coup may be overblown. While Apple Music's ramp up has been rapid, that doesn't imply its rate of growth will continue at anywhere near that pace, because a huge chunk of Apple Music customers are Apple loyalists that got on board when the service was first launched.
In addition, Spotify has been showing strength in acquiring new paid customers of its own. As we recently reported, Spotify is expected to soon hit the 30 million mark in paid subscribers. An aggressive marketing promotion in February offering a free Google Chromecast in exchange for a three month paid tier subscription should have further accelerated the pace of growth for Spotify Premium, keeping it safely in the number one spot, at least for the foreseeable future.
