Apple Music remains a dominant force in the streaming industry, though it still trails its main competitor, Spotify, in terms of 2016 growth.
This year, Apple Music doubled its membership to 20 million paid subscribers, reports BuzzFeed News. Launched at the end of June 2015, the platform gained 10 million subscribers by January of this year.
It took Spotify, launched in October 2008, almost seven years to reach 20 million subscribers. So while it would appear that Apple Music is on a pace to trounce Spotify, keep in mind that streaming has only been a leading force in the industry for the past couple of years. In September, Apple Music announced it had attained 17 million paid subscribers, and Spotify soon countered those figures with an impressive 40 million paid subscribers.
From September until now, Apple Music is averaging about 1 million paid subscribers per month. Though the latest figures for Spotify came in September, the company reported to have 30 million paid subscribers in March. Between then and September, Spotify averaged 1.6 million paid subscribers per month. Thus, it appears that Spotify is winning the streaming battle this year, though confirmation will come when the platform's latest numbers are revealed.
Apple Music has looked to forge ahead of its competition with exclusive deals with top artists like Drake, Taylor Swift, and Frank Ocean. An asset of Spotify is the free streaming service it provides with ads, as users can experience the program before deciding to become paid subscribers. Both platforms have identical membership costs: $9.99/month for individuals, $14.99/month for families, and $4.99/month for students.
Which streaming service do you prefer?