Spotify's subscriber numbers now lag behind Apple Music's in US markets

Polycount

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Apple has been on a roll lately, in more ways than one. Though the iPhone X's sales haven't quite lived up to Apple's expectations, the company's success in other parts of their business is undeniable.

Their Apple Music streaming service, in particular, has skyrocketed over the past few months. In March, the platform hit the 38 million paid subscriber milestone, going on to shoot past 40 million subscribers the following month.

While those numbers are impressive, Apple had never been able to beat one of its biggest competitors, Spotify. Spotify boasted a whopping 75 million paid subscribers as of May, shortly after the company went public.

Apple Music's total subscriber numbers still can't quite compete with Spotify's global user base, but it seems it has a fighting chance in the US market. Indeed, according to a report from Digital Music News, Apple Music has finally surpassed Spotify in overall US subscribers.

The report in question doesn't give us specifics, in the interest of protecting the identity of the outlet's sources. However, we do know that both companies are currently sitting at around 20 million US subscribers each, with Apple slightly in the lead.

It's not entirely clear why Apple is beating Spotify in the US -- it could be mere brand loyalty -- but it will be interesting to see how this corporate rivalry progresses in the coming months.

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Apple music is not free though right? Spotify is, and they serve ads for extra/lower revenue to free users. So, still making money, even to free users and probably ticket commission etc.

#applehater
Maybe look up their business model (or read the article above) before commenting.
 
I'm shocked that Apple was able to do this considering how universal Spotify is in comparison to Apple Music. Does it even work on anything besides iOS, HomePod and iTunes? I chose Spotify because it works on pretty much any software platform and the majority of third party hardware devices.
 
I've been a user of both services and I can tell that Spotify is way better, YeAh it is. To begin with, apple music quality sound lies way behind Spotify's. In Spotify you can share playlists and its catalog is huge, compared to the limited apple has.
 
I'm shocked that Apple was able to do this considering how universal Spotify is in comparison to Apple Music. Does it even work on anything besides iOS, HomePod and iTunes? I chose Spotify because it works on pretty much any software platform and the majority of third party hardware devices.
It is the other way around with Apple Music. If you are an Apple user and you have a HomePod and an Apple Watch you get limited functionality on Spotify and full functionality with Apple Music. So Apple are using their hardware dominance to leverage their software. Smart business sense really but annoying for me as I am an Apple user who gets Spotify free from my network provider. It’s one of the main reasons why I haven’t bought an Apple Watch or a home pod. However I’m not holding my breath, I can’t see Apple conceding to Spotify anytime soon, especially if they are make good growth on Apple Music.
 
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