Apple Music has hit another paid subscriber milestone. At a roundtable meeting in France, Apple’s Services VP Eddy Cue told French publication Numerama (via Music Business Worldwide) that Apple Music now has over 60 million paying subscribers around the world.
Apple last provided an update on its Apple Music paid subscriber count in January, when it confirmed that it had over 50 million paying users. Cue also told Numerama that Apple is continuing to perfect the Apple Music experience across all platforms.
He also noted that Apple entered all of the lyrics for the new live lyrics feature in iOS 13, a subtle jab at the ongoing dispute between Google and Genius.
“I really appreciate Music in its current state and its next release proves that the service can always be perfected,” says Eddy Cue, who mentions some features of the iOS 13 version of Music: the karaoke mode with lyrics displayed in big on the screen is one of his favorites. “And we’ve entered them for the most part,” he says.
Apple’s count of 60 million paying Apple Music subscribers is still lower than Spotify, which confirmed earlier this year that it had over 100 million paid users around the world. In the United States, however, it’s believed that Apple Music has eclipsed Spotify and now has a larger paying subscriber base.
As for the popularity of Apple Music among Android users, Cue was a bit more tight-lipped, but he did say that Apple Music is the most popular streaming service in the Apple ecosystem:
“I know the number, but I can not tell you! All I can share is that in the Apple ecosystem, Apple Music is the # 1 streaming service. “
In addition to confirming Apple Music subscriber numbers, Cue also offered some color on the break up of iTunes in macOS Catalina:
“I worked so much on iTunes and Apple Music, I’m biased! Of course I’m fond of iTunes, but I think Apple Music is absolutely better in every way. We have something better now and there is no point in looking back.”
Lastly, as for Apple’s always-on Beats 1 streaming radio station, Cue touted that it has “tens of millions of listeners.” Apple has been incredibly quiet on specifics relating to the popularity of Beats 1, and this marks one of the first times it has offered any sort of data on the streaming radio station.
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