Apple Music Attracts 20M Subscribers In 18 Months

Apple has released the latest numbers for the music subscription service Apple Music. In the 18 months since the service was launched, the tech giant reveals that it has just crossed the 20 million paid subscribers mark. It last reported 17 million subscribers in September, marking a 15 percent jump in three months.

In addition, the company announces that 60 percent of customers using Apple Music have not bought content from the iTunes Music Store in the last 12 months -- a portion of which are dormant users but "the vast majority are new customers," Apple's svp of internet software and products Eddy Cue tells Billboard. Now available in more than 100 countries, over 50 percent of Apple Music subscribers live outside of the U.S. -- in such markets as Canada, China, South Africa, Japan, Russia, Brazil and India -- states the company.

The speed with which Apple has built the streaming service -- essentially starting from zero in June 2015 -- may be even more impressive than the latest numbers, which still trail competitor Spotify by 20 million. Cue, who spoke to Billboard alongside Beats 1's Zane Lowe, says "of course we want more and we want it to go faster -- we’re hungry!" But, he adds, "We can’t forget that, as an industry, we still have very few music subscribers. There are billions of people listening to music and we haven’t even hit 100 million subscribers. There's a lot of growth opportunity."

There is also increasing competition, with Amazon and iHeartRadio jumping into the subscription game and Pandora having just launched Pandora Premium. Is there room for all these services? Cue seems to think so. "If they drive more people to pay and buy music then that's a good thing for all of us," he says. It's a sentiment shared by Lowe. "It's great for fans.