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Apple announces 11 million trial members signed up to Apple Music, Eddy Cue ‘thrilled’ with uptake

In a statement to USA Today, Apple has officially announced it has signed up 11 million members to Apple Music since launch. Eddy Cue says he is “thrilled with the numbers so far”, noting that about 2 million of that number have signed up for a family plan, which costs $14.99 for up to six people. The real success of Apple Music won’t be known until the 3 month trial ends and the 11 million have to make the choice to start paying for the monthly subscription.

In a separate interview with CNBC, Cue said customer feedback about Apple Music has been overwhelmingly positive, inadvertently rebutting against criticism the service has received in tech circles. Cue says they are fixing any bugs as fast as they can. Beats 1 host Zane Lowe has said previously that Apple will simplify the way users can access the 24/7 radio offering, reducing interactions to just two taps.

Apple Music continues to attract exclusive content deals and new music. Dre will launch his new album exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music later this week. Apple Music remains the only place to stream 1989, Taylor’s Swift latest album.

Apple is also backing their new subscription service with worldwide marketing, with posters spotted in San Francisco, London, Canada and more. In the same interview with CNBC, Cue announced that Apple set an App Store record for transactions with over $1.7 billion in July. China was a big player in causing this growth, with Chinese iOS users spending more and more in Apple’s stores every quarter. You can watch the whole clip below.

 

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Comments

  1. kittykatta - 9 years ago

    “Chef Bingo thrilled as interest in his Chef Bingo Bacon Bites samples are eaten after he nags them endlessly at local Costco”

    The 3 month trial period was brilliant. I’m actually very interested in how the true numbers will shake down after the trial period because I know many people who were nagged into signing up. Apple already has our cards on file and 3 months Is such a long stretch of time that most people who got nagged into signing up will have forgotten to unsubscribe and these phantom payments for a service they may not even use will keep recurring for months.

  2. If I remember correctly, they were hoping for some 100 mln subscribers? 11 mln signing up for free trial sounds rather poor, and my guess would be that good few will revert to other services once free trial expires, purely because of rather inferior experience.

  3. chrisl84 - 9 years ago

    Spotify is doomed! -every music related comment for the last 8 months around here

  4. chrisl84 - 9 years ago

    Interesting we can get Apple Music numbers but no Watch sales

    • vxxxcv - 9 years ago

      Baceuse they are very low.

      • PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

        -1

      • chrisl84 - 9 years ago

        Oh I know, just waiting for everyone to admit it

      • rnc - 9 years ago

        75% of the marketshare…

        4 million units (lowest study for worldwide sales)

        surpassing 6 months of cheap Android Wear in 1 (one) day.

        “Very low”

  5. Toufik Hamdani - 9 years ago

    I’ll go back to Spotify as soon as the trial is over. Very poor experience so far :-(

  6. Tony C (@Muadibe10) - 9 years ago

    Count me as one of the free trial users who will be signing up for sure. I’ve been discovering lots of great music.

  7. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    Its a no brainer for anyone who already uses iTunes. The ease with which you can add whole albums to your library is fantastic. I long ago stopped adding music at this pace because it got too expensive. But at $9 a month for as much music as I want? All integrated with the same library I’ve had growing for for 15 years? Yes please.

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.