Apple Music's Next Big Challenge
— -- Apple's foray into the world of music streaming is paying off. More than 11 million people having signed up for Apple Music just five weeks after its launch, according to data released today by the company.
Launching in 100 countries on June 30, Apple Music is available for iOS, watchOS, Mac and PCs. The company won't tap into the one billion strong Android market until sometime this fall, according to the latest release date posted on Apple's website.
Of those who have signed up so far, Apple said near 2 million are taking advantage of the family plan, which allows as many as six people to share an account.
The subscription numbers are a strong start for Apple but the company's next challenge will be to convert those 11 million subscribers and counting into paying customers after their free three month trial subscriptions end.
After the a user's trial period ends, a $9.99 per month subscription fee will apply for individual users, while a competitively priced family plan will cost $14.99 per month. If Apple were able to convert most of its existing user base into paying members, the company would already have half the number of paid members of Spotify, the current leader in music streaming.
When it comes to selling music streaming subscriptions, Spotify had something Apple doesn't have: a big head start.
The nearly 7-year-old company announced in June it reached 20 million paid subscribers to its streaming service with a total of 75 million active users. Paid subscriptions, which start at $9.99 per month, were up 100 percent from last year, according to company data released in June.
An estimated 41 million people paid for a streaming music subscription service in 2014, according to IFPI, a London-based recording industry trade group that represents more than 1,300 record labels.
Apple's huge advantage: With more than 800 million iTunes accounts, Apple Music has the opportunity to quickly amass a following, especially as more continue to upgrade their devices to iOS 8.4, the operating system refresh that includes the option to sign up for Apple Music.
