Eddy Cue 'Thrilled With the Numbers' as Apple Music Hits 11 Million Users
In an interview with USA Today, Apple's Eddy Cue reveals that Apple Music currently has 11 million users taking advantage of the initial three-month trial period, with two million of those taking advantage of the family plan that will cost $14.99 per month once the trial ends. A single-user membership will be priced at $9.99 per month.
"We're thrilled with the numbers so far," says Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, adding that of that sum 2 million have opted for the more lucrative family plan at $14.99 a month for up to six people.
The officially announced milestone of 11 million users is roughly in line with the rumored ten million users shared by HITS Daily Double last week.
Cue notes Apple is "releasing updates as fast as we can" to address bugs and other issues with Apple Music amid duplication and mislabeling complaints. Jimmy Iovine also contributed to the interview, highlighting some of the challenges of reaching users in certain countries and age demographics while noting Apple believes it can use its leverage to bring many of those users on board for a subscription music service.
On a separate note, Cue shared some new App Store numbers, noting that July set a record with $1.7 billion in App Store transactions thanks to strong performance in China. Apple has now paid out $33 billion to developers since the App Store debuted in 2008.
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Top Rated Comments
Spotify has 75 million users of which 20 million pay.
Nothing to brag about Eddy.
Love the suggested playlists--they've been pretty much spot on with my musical tastes. LOVE some of the Beats1 shows, namely Soulection. And so far I've only encountered 1 or 2 instances where something I wanted to listen to on a whim wasn't available.
I'll admit that the learning curve of the UI is pretty steep by Apple standards and it is nowhere near perfect. But once you spend some time with it, it becomes way easier to navigate. I think it'll only get better with time. To each his own though.