Apple Music has more than 20 million paying subscribers less than 18 months after the streaming service launched on June 30 last year, reports Music Business Worldwide.
Apple Music has added 10 million subscribers this year. Its main competitor, Spotify, added 12 million subscribers this year, bringing its total to 40 million paying customers.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, told Billboard, the music industry “bible,” that despite a mandate from Universal Music Group chairman Lucian Grainge, exclusives will continue in the near future “where appropriate,” adds Cue.
“They work really well for everybody concerned — they’re great for the label, they work for the artist and for us,” he said. “But an across-the-board Apple policy concerning such promotions doesn’t exist, Cue told Billboard. “It’s really about launching things. Sometimes it makes sense to do that.”
You can try Apple Music free for three months on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. After this subscriptions are $9.99 a month for individuals, $14.99 for families (up to six people), and $4.99 for college students.
