Following Tidal's launch this spring, the Jay Z-helmed streaming service started strong but went into rather a steep decline. Now, it seems that Apple Music may be suffering a similar fate, since a survey has indicated that many of the service's users have already abandoned the platform. Apple Music, however, claims differently.
Yesterday (August 18), consumer research company MusicWatch published the results of a study of 5,000 U.S. consumers. Of them, 77 percent were aware of Apple Music, but only 11 percent were currently using Apple Music.
Perhaps even more significantly, among those who had tried Apple Music, only 48 percent of people reported that they were still using it. Of them, 61 percent had already turned off the auto-renewal option on iTunes (which would transfer them to a paid membership on September 30). That being said, 64 percent said that they were likely to pay for a subscription once the free trial ends.
Apparently the most popular of Apple Music's features is the My Music tool. The Beats 1 radio station is being used by 30 percent, and Connect is being used by 27 percent.
"In terms of benchmarking Apple Music, 40 percent of iOS users are buying digital downloads from iTunes, suggesting trial of Apple Music could be higher," MusicWatch's Russ Crupnick said in a statement. "That's the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good services currently exist."
While these results don't sound particularly promising for Apple, the company has already responded to the survey, telling The Verge that 79 percent of users who signed up for Apple Music are still using it. That's a far more flattering result, but it's not clear exactly how Apple defines active usage.
The real test will come in October, when it comes times for consumers to start paying if they want to use Apple Music.
Yesterday (August 18), consumer research company MusicWatch published the results of a study of 5,000 U.S. consumers. Of them, 77 percent were aware of Apple Music, but only 11 percent were currently using Apple Music.
Perhaps even more significantly, among those who had tried Apple Music, only 48 percent of people reported that they were still using it. Of them, 61 percent had already turned off the auto-renewal option on iTunes (which would transfer them to a paid membership on September 30). That being said, 64 percent said that they were likely to pay for a subscription once the free trial ends.
Apparently the most popular of Apple Music's features is the My Music tool. The Beats 1 radio station is being used by 30 percent, and Connect is being used by 27 percent.
"In terms of benchmarking Apple Music, 40 percent of iOS users are buying digital downloads from iTunes, suggesting trial of Apple Music could be higher," MusicWatch's Russ Crupnick said in a statement. "That's the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good services currently exist."
While these results don't sound particularly promising for Apple, the company has already responded to the survey, telling The Verge that 79 percent of users who signed up for Apple Music are still using it. That's a far more flattering result, but it's not clear exactly how Apple defines active usage.
The real test will come in October, when it comes times for consumers to start paying if they want to use Apple Music.
