The tides are shifting in the streaming wars.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple Music is on track to surpass Spotify’s paid subscriber count in the United States as early as this summer.
via The Verge:
Globally, Spotify remains ahead, but Apple is growing at a higher rate in the US — five percent a month verses Spotify’s two percent per month. The US is the largest market for music streaming with 30 million paying subscribers, and Apple’s growth there means that it’s becoming a serious challenger to Spotify. Globally, Apple tells the WSJ that it now has 36 million subscribers.
The WSJ says that Apple’s growth has been fueled in part by its devices in the hands of consumers, and with the release of its $349 HomePod speaker system next week, it will have another outlet through which customers can listen.
In the last couple of years, streaming has become the dominant means through which people consume their music, with 62 percent of revenue coming from services like Spotify and Apple Music.
Both services cost $9.99 a month, with Spotify also offering a free version and a catalog of 30 million songs. Apple Music has a slightly bigger library, with 45 million songs. And then there’s Tidal.
