Apple Music has 20 million subscribers since its launch

The latest numbers for Apple’s music subscription service are in and they look pretty good. Apple Music was launched 18 months back and the company has revealed that it has just reached the 20 million paid subscribers mark. Back in September, the numbers hovered at 17 million subscribers, which means the last three months saw a 15 percent increase. Apple also added that 60 percent Apple Music customers have not bought content from the iTunes Music Store in the last 12 months. While a portion of this are inactive users, a majority are new customers said Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President, Internet software and products, Apple. Apple Music is available in over 100 countries and more than 50 percent of Apple Music subscribers are outside of the US with the biggest markets being Canada, China, South Africa, Japan, Russia, Brazil and India. “It’s been quite a year. We were thrilled to see that we could take [artists’] passions and drive them all the way to No. 1. Chance the Rapper, who we put on Apple Music exclusively, hit the top 10 on the Billboard charts [based on streams alone], and I can’t recall that being done before. Exclusives will continue in the near future where appropriate. They work really well for everybody concerned they’re great for the label, they work for the artist and for us,” added Cue. While Apple Music still trails Spotify by 20 million in terms of subscribers, the speed at which Apple’s service is driving is impressive. Apple recently announced the student plan for Apple Music in India which offers the music streaming service to verified university students at just Rs 60 a month.