Apple Music Now Has “Well Over 30 Million” Subscribers
Apple Music has "well over" 30 million subscribers, executives Jimmy Iovine, Zane Lowe, and Larry Jackson told Billboard this week. That's up from 27 million in June, but is still outpaced by Spotify which grew from 50 million paid subscribers in March to 60 Million as of July.
Total Spotify active users (freemium and paid) surapsses 140 million.
Despite the numbers, Iovine is not bullish about competitor Spotify's long term prospects: "Daniel [Ek] is a talented guy and smart as all hell, but the margins are too tight. The costs are extraordinary. It’s going to get bigger and bigger and bigger, and the costs are going to get higher, not lower. Going into new countries means localizing everything. It’s going to cost a lot of money. They have a problem that [a diversified company like] Amazon doesn't have."
