Survey: Majority of current Apple Music trial users likely to pay for subscription [update with repl

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited August 2015
Most consumers still using the three-month free trial of Apple Music say they are likely to continue paying for a subscription after the period ends, new survey data shows, though a significant portion may have dropped off soon after trying the service.




Of the iOS users who told market research firm MusicWatch that they were listening to Apple Music, 64 percent classed themselves as extremely or very likely to continue with a paid subscription. Many have already turned off automatic renewal in iTunes, however, suggesting that there is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the nascent service.

MusicWatch says that they came by the data by interviewing 5,000 U.S. consumers, though it's not clear how many of those were iOS users.

Additionally, the firm found that 48 percent of those who tried Apple Music at one point had stopped using it. MusicWatch didn't say how those figures cross with the number of consumers that also use Spotify or Pandora --?39 percent of surveyed Spotify users and 6 percent of Pandora users had tried Apple Music --?though they did note that Apple Music had won "very few" users of other services over permanently.

There is room to grow for Apple, as just 77 percent of the iOS users surveyed said they were aware of Apple Music's existence. Of those that did know, 11 percent had tried Apple Music --?compared to 40 percent who download tracks from iTunes.

"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 managing partner Russ Crupnick said in a release. "That's the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good services currently exist."

Update: Apple refuted the numbers in a statement to The Verge, saying 79 percent of those signed up for Apple Music are still using it.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 53
    Well, I guess that headline *is* technically accurate...
  • Reply 2 of 53
    danielswdanielsw Posts: 906member

    I'm in. It's great!

     

    I love the "discovery" facility of it. I have yet to fine anything I've searched for NOT available on Apple Music, which means that I don't necessarily have to buy everything I want to check out.

  • Reply 3 of 53
    Wasn't the narrative that Apple was supposedly abusing its massive stash of credit cards tied to iOS accounts to give Apple an "unfair advantage" because billions of people will unknowingly pay for Apple Music when the 3 month free trial expires? Wasn't it one of the other streaming music services that wanted Apple harassed by the government for that?
  • Reply 4 of 53
    joelsaltjoelsalt Posts: 827member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DanielSW View Post

     

    I'm in. It's great!

     

    I love the "discovery" facility of it. I have yet to fine anything I've searched for NOT available on Apple Music, which means that I don't necessarily have to buy everything I want to check out.




    The Beatles is the only thing I've wanted to listen to and not found.

     

    I've also been pleasantly surprised by finding stuff in the "for you" section that I loved.  I'll also keep it on.  Of course, I'm not a switcher from Spotify or anything else.

  • Reply 5 of 53
    sirlance99sirlance99 Posts: 1,293member
    I've stopped using for the most part and will not be subscribing to Apple Music. I'm staying within what I've been using previously.
  • Reply 6 of 53
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

    I'm not.

     

    Not until its $4.99 for personal plan.

     

    I don't want to be bothered with the family plan BS.




    You are an outlier, insignificant to the market. $4.99 is nonsense. Nobody can make any money from that. Not Apple, not the labels, and certainly not the artists.

  • Reply 7 of 53
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    And this is the Verge headline: People are giving up on Apple Music, survey says
  • Reply 8 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    And this is the Verge headline: People are giving up on Apple Music, survey says

    It is an utter POS website at this point. They seem desperate to become another Buzzfeed or HuffPo, but without the panache.

  • Reply 9 of 53
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    sog35 wrote: »
    I'm not.

    Not until its $4.99 for personal plan.

    I don't want to be bothered with the family plan BS.

    Then you'll never use it.
  • Reply 10 of 53
    Ill be keeping it. I havent used a streaming service before and its been nice though there's been a few things Ive tried to find and couldnt (most recently múm). Staples has iTunes gift cards on sale for 20% off right now so itll be like paying $8/mo.
  • Reply 11 of 53
    dougddougd Posts: 292member
    No interest whatsoever
  • Reply 12 of 53
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    It is an utter POS website at this point. They seem desperate to become another Buzzfeed or HuffPo, but without the panache.

    Yep and anyone who complains about the comments being shut off has their posts removed or threads locked. Because Nilay and Co. refuse to admit the obvious: the comments sections became full of garbage because the articles are clickbaity garbage.
  • Reply 13 of 53
    zroger73zroger73 Posts: 787member

    In the beginning, I browsed for a song I wanted then clicked "Buy". It went to my iTunes library and all of my music and playlists stayed perfectly synced between all my devices.

     

    Then, along came "radio" in iTunes, iTunes Radio, Home Sharing, iTunes Match, iCloud, and Apple Music. I now feel overwhelmed and confused. Features keep moving or disappearing while other features are added. Each of my iDevices now has different music. I feel lost! I'm still paying for iTunes Match and I'm not even sure why. One of the reasons I made the switch to Apple years ago was the simplicity. So much for that!

     

    It's unlikely I'll pay $10 for Apple Music since I'm not even sure what, if anything, it is doing for me aside from making things more confusing for me.

  • Reply 14 of 53
    zroger73 wrote: »
    <span style="line-height:1.4em;">In the beginning, I browsed for a song I wanted then clicked "Buy". It went to my iTunes library and all of my music and playlists stayed perfectly synced between all my devices.</span>


    Then, along came "radio" in iTunes, iTunes Radio, Home Sharing, iTunes Match, iCloud, and Apple Music. I now feel overwhelmed and confused. Features keep moving or disappearing while other features are added. Each of my iDevices now has different music. I feel lost! I'm still paying for iTunes Match and I'm not even sure why. One of the reasons I made the switch to Apple years ago was the simplicity. So much for that!

    It's unlikely I'll pay $10 for Apple Music since I'm not even sure what, if anything, it is doing for me aside from making things more confusing for me.

    Exactly. This is not what won Apple the huge amount of consumer trust over the years. It's exactly the opposite and has started to tarnish the brand (along with lots of other shortcomings lately).
  • Reply 15 of 53
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member

    I think it works really well, too. And also chiming in on the "for you" section being surprisingly great. I've never seen any suggestions or playlists on Spotify that I've liked. In fact I've always deeply hated every suggestion made by Spotify. Since it's commercial forces driving suggestions, or just bad taste, I don't know. Apple Music has surprised me in this area, suggesting a lot of certainly great music. This is probably the Dre currating magic hard at work. Great stuff.

  • Reply 16 of 53
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    This would be positive news, if accurate.
  • Reply 17 of 53
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    Some day I'll be able to afford it.
  • Reply 18 of 53
    zroger73zroger73 Posts: 787member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

    You can get Netflix for $7.99 a month.  Why the hell would I pay $9.99 for just AUDIO.  Movies cost way more to produce than music.

     


    In defense of Apple Music, you must consider that Apple Music has a FAR more comprehensive library. For purposes of discussion, you might say that Apple Music has virtually every song ever recorded in modern history. Netflix has only a small selection of all the movies that have ever been filmed. Movies regularly come and go and there is a long delay from the time a movie is released before it appears on Netflix. In other words, if someone releases a new song today, you can listen to it on Apple Music right away. If a new movie hits the theaters today, it'll be months before it makes it to Netflix at best, if it EVER makes it there. Netflix is NOT to video as Apple Music is to audio.

  • Reply 19 of 53
    joelsaltjoelsalt Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    Quite the opposite.  Streaming music will never go mainstream until they drop the price.

     

    You can get Netflix for $7.99 a month.  Why the hell would I pay $9.99 for just AUDIO.  Movies cost way more to produce than music.

     

    Until they price it at $4.99 you won't see massive buy-in by the mainstream.

     

    Of course they can make money.  

     

    $4.99 x 12 months x 400,000,000 users = $24 billion in revenue.

     

    That's more revenue than what the entire music industry will make in 2016.




    How many new releases are on Netflix?

     

    I read somewhere that Netflix's ENTIRE BUDGET would be used if they wanted new episodes of BIG BANG THEORY b/c advertisements are 400 000 dollars on that show.

     

    Netflix is great for watching sitcoms produced in the 90s and movies that are several years old.

     

    Apple has brand new Album releases on its service, and as noted above, WAY larger library.

     

    PS didn't netflix raise their prices recently? A quick scan on the net says yes: 

    Quote:


    The Verge (ugh, I know)

    In the US, the basic streaming plan will now cost $8.99 per month.



  • Reply 20 of 53
    Quote:

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zroger73 View Post



    In the beginning, I browsed for a song I wanted then clicked "Buy". It went to my iTunes library and all of my music and playlists stayed perfectly synced between all my devices.





    Then, along came "radio" in iTunes, iTunes Radio, Home Sharing, iTunes Match, iCloud, and Apple Music. I now feel overwhelmed and confused. Features keep moving or disappearing while other features are added. Each of my iDevices now has different music. I feel lost! I'm still paying for iTunes Match and I'm not even sure why. One of the reasons I made the switch to Apple years ago was the simplicity. So much for that!



    It's unlikely I'll pay $10 for Apple Music since I'm not even sure what, if anything, it is doing for me aside from making things more confusing for me.




    Exactly. This is not what won Apple the huge amount of consumer trust over the years. It's exactly the opposite and has started to tarnish the brand (along with lots of other shortcomings lately).


    Completely agree.  Even though I think the family plan is a great price, the individual price is a non starter, not with so much of it available for free. They need to forget about their high margins and make up for it in volume.  The individual plan should have a $4-$5 starting price.  The only reason I will be keeping it is because I am on a family plan with 5 other friends, which bring it down to $30 a year, a no brainer at that price range.  The problem is not Apple, but the labels and the music execs.  They are living in this alternative universe where music is not a commodity and people will pay a lot of money for it /s.

Sign In or Register to comment.