Apple might have been slow to embrace music streaming, but it isn’t paying the price for it. In fact, Apple Music is reportedly up to 10 million paid subscribers after just six months.
The stats were reported by The Financial Times, citing sources close to Apple Music. During its trial period, Apple said in August that it had 11 million Apple Music trial users. That was only a month after the service, which is now available in 100 countries, launched.
While 10 million is still half as many paid subscribers as Spotify, it took Apple’s chief streaming rival six years to hit 10 million. Unlike Spotify, there is no free tier of apple Music.
Still, Apple and Spotify are the kings of streaming right now. The France-based Deezer only has 6.3 million users, while Jay Z’s Tidal is standing at just 1 million at this point.
The news from Apple is also proof of how valuable streaming can be as the next wave for the struggling music industry. Nielsen Music reported that album sales were down 11 percent in 2015, but streaming skyrocketed to 92.8 percent. Nielsen said that 317 billion songs were streamed last year.
Another key victory for streaming: The Beatles are now streaming.