• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

2

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

3

Current price of oil as of June 10, 2026

1

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

2

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

3

Current price of oil as of June 10, 2026
TechApple

Who’s paying for Apple Music?

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 20, 2015, 8:51 AM ET
US-TECHNOLOGY-WSJD LIVE
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, gestures while responding to questions on October 19, 2015 in Laguna Beach, California at the opening of the 2015 WSJD Live. The event brings together top CEOs, founders, pioneers, investors and luminaries to explore the most exciting tech opportunities emerging around the world. AFP PHOTO / FREDERIC J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by Frederic J. Brown — AFP/Getty Images

The Apple Music numbers Tim Cook announced Monday night—15 million subscribers, 6.5 million paid—are roughly in line with a pair of survey results Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research e-mailed his subscribers a few days earlier.

But Dawson’s analysis goes deeper. His samples were small (200 and 500 subjects, respectively), but they offer the most detail we’ve seen so far about who is still using Apple’s streaming music service at the end of the 3-month free trial, and why.

Among his findings:

  • Younger people were more likely to sign up, whereas older people were more likely to pay
  • Users who were interested in discovering new music were more likely to become paying customers
  • Getting users to switch from competing services like Pandora and Spotify is proving tough
  • Discovery, integration with iOS, and access to music they already owned were the features people liked most

.

Two of his published charts are particularly instructive. The first shows the status of Apple Music subscriptions by age. Note how much bigger the gray “now paying” bar is for the 65+ crowd compared with users between the ages of 18 of 25.

Screen Shot 2015-10-20 at 8.15.51 AM

 

The second chart ranked the features listeners said they cared most about. Younger listeners tend to be more interested in discovering new music. Older listeners search for music they already know they like.

Screen Shot 2015-10-20 at 7.37.14 AM

Curiously, music sharing, one of Apple Music’s tentpole features, is a relatively low priority across all age groups.

Apple Music, Dawson concluded, is off to a “decent” but not spectacular start.

Still, Apple managed to rack up more than 6.5 million paying customers in three and a half months. By comparison, it took Spotify nearly seven years to reach 20 million. Most of Spotify’s 75 million listeners are still streaming their music for free.

After three months, free is not an option on Apple Music.

 

Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter at @philiped. Read his Apple (AAPL) coverage at fortune.com/ped or subscribe via his RSS feed.

Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Meet the SpaceX employees who are set to become multimillionaires thanks to its IPO: from execs to even welders
SuccessWealth
Meet the SpaceX employees who are set to become multimillionaires thanks to its IPO: from execs to even welders
By Preston ForeJune 11, 2026
1 hour ago
ice
LawImmigration
Westchester County built a 600-camera plate reader network that shared 1.6 billion scans with ICE, lawsuit says
By Byron Tau and The Associated PressJune 11, 2026
2 hours ago
brazil
Arts & EntertainmentWorld Cup
Brazil’s biggest soccer broadcaster Is now a guy who started on Twitch. He beat Globo
By Nick Lichtenberg, Tales Azzoni and The Associated PressJune 11, 2026
2 hours ago
visa
AIVisa
Visa thinks it’s a great idea for AI agents to shop and pay for things without human approval
By Barbara Ortutay, Ken Sweet and The Associated PressJune 11, 2026
2 hours ago
carney
North AmericaSocial Media
Canada joins global movement to ban social media for kids: ‘We are failing our children. Enough is enough’
By Rob Gillies and The Associated PressJune 11, 2026
2 hours ago
amodei
AIAnthropic
Anthropic is worth $965 billion and just hired 1,000 coaches for nonprofits: ‘The fox can’t guard the henhouse’
By Glenn Gamboa and The Associated PressJune 11, 2026
2 hours ago

Most Popular

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
Energy
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
By Sasha RogelbergJune 10, 2026
22 hours ago
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
3 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 10, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 10, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 10, 2026
1 day ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
3 days ago
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
Innovation
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
By Amanda GerutJune 9, 2026
2 days ago
A ‘MAGA Warrior’ Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America's beef supply
North America
A ‘MAGA Warrior’ Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America's beef supply
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 10, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.