Report: Apple Music hits 15 million users

A month after Apple’s SVP of Internet Software Eddy Cue reported that Apple Music had hit 11 million users, the service has now grown to 15 million users, sources told the New York Post.

Apple Music’s big test comes next week when its free trial runs out on September 30. But half of the 15 million have not turned off the auto-play feature, which means 7.5 million intend to become paying subscribers.

If indeed Apple Music does get those 7.5 million payers next month, that would mean its user base has grown 37.5% in three months. In other words, in this short time, it has already reached 25% to 35% of Spotify’s paid customer base in just 6% of the time. Spotify announced it hit 20 million paid users in June after four years in operation. A further 55—60 million use its free version.

“If Apple reports between 30 million and 50 million trialists by year-end, then we can consider it successful,” music industry analyst Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research told The Post.

“More than 5 million paying subscribers would be a success. Above 7 million would be a strong success.”

Mulligan considers even a 25% conversion rate of free to paid a positive. He expects that 35% to 40% of users might make the first payment (due October 1) and then 20% to 25% would make a second payment

Apple has also put into place strategies to grow the streaming service’s numbers. It’s started to market it heavily during the MTV Video Music Awards and the Emmys. The new iPhone 6s comes pre-loaded with the Apple Music app, to make it even easier to give it a try. The iOS 9 update also fixed the bugs that plagued the service at its outset.