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Apple ( AAPL ) Music has 11 million paid subscribers, senior vice president Eddy Cue said Friday, confirming that the streaming music service is showing rapid growth and pressuring rivals. Apple Music had 10 million paying customers at the beginning of the year, the Financial Times reported last month. SVP Cue, speaking on John Gruber’s “The Talk Show” podcast released Friday, said Apple Music has quickly moved beyond that benchmark. Apple Music began in June for iOS users with 3-month trial subscriptions, expanding to the Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Android operating system in November. Apple’s growth may be coming at the expense of rivals such as Pandora Media ( P ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Alphabet’s YouTube and privately held Spotify. Pandora Media late Thursday said that its listener base fell to 81.1 million in Q4 vs. 81.4 million in the prior quarter and 81.5 million a year earlier. Pandora also missed earnings estimates. Pandora stock fell 12% on Friday, nearly undercutting its all-time intraday low set in 2012. Pandora shares rose 8% on Thursday ahead of results on a New York Times report that the company is mulling whether to put itself up for sale, hiring Morgan Stanley to help hold talks with potential bidders. Apple, Amazon, Facebook ( FB ) and Spotify are potential suitors, FBR & Co. analyst Barton Crockett said. Apple announced Friday that it will stream its first original series starring Beats co-founder Dr. Dre . The semi-autographical 6-episode Vital Signs may be streamed on Apple Music as another way to boost the service. Apple Music charges $9.99 a month, while Pandora has a $5 ad-free premium service. Spotify has 20 million paying subscribers — $9.99 in the U.S. — and 75 million who listen for free. Apple makes the bulk of its revenue from the iPhone. But with iPhone sales likely falling in the current quarter, the iPad steadily declining and the Apple Watch not a blockbuster, Apple increasingly is relying on services for growth. Services revenue rose 15% vs. a year earlier to $5.5 billion in Apple’s Q1. That compares to overall revenue growth of 2% to $75.9 billion. Scalper1 News
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