Unlike Spotify which offers an ad-based free listening tier, Apple Music can only be accessed by those who pay for its subscription (assuming your three-month trial has ended). This means that Apple needs paid customers to keep its services profitable and successful, whereas Spotify can still rely on revenue generated by ads.However it seems that converting paying customers isn’t a problem for Apple, at least not according to Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster who writes (via AppleInsider) that Apple is apparently converting paying customers at 2.5 times the speed compared to Spotify, which Munster attributes to how iPhone owners apparently having more disposable income.
According to Munster, “Apple’s higher conversion rate can be attributed in part to iPhone owners having more disposable income compared to Android owners. A second, more material contributor is Apple’s ownership of iOS which distributes a seamlessly integrated music experience along with prompts to get iPhone owners to subscribe.”
He also estimates that Apple Music’s share in North America is at 21 million subscribers. Previously we had heard that Apple has overtaken Spotify in the US market in terms of subscribers, although it should be noted that despite that, Spotify is still very much in the lead, with Munster estimating that the company has a 62% global market share, while Apple is a little over half that at 34%.
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