Inside sources at some of the major labels—who are bound by ironclad NDAs—say that Apple Music has attracted more than 10 million subscribers in a mere four weeks.
These sources, who risk possible waterboarding by Robert Kondrk and team for any fissures in Cupertino’s customary wall of silence, have been surprised by how many have signed up for the service during this initial free trial period.
Apple doesn’t make its streaming numbers public but is showing reports to those rights holders, who have been surprised by how big those figures already are. Some streaming numbers (notably on a couple of cutting-edge hip-hop titles) are actually competitive with Spotify’s. Some rights holders feel Apple should publicize these figures; the decision to do so or not falls to Eddy Cue. But releasing the numbers would likely go a long way toward turning those who don’t yet get it into believers.
Of course, they dare not speak up publicly, for fear of being spirited away by an armada of beautifully designed iHelicopters and taken to Kondrk’s lair for reprogramming.
A big marketing push for the service will kick off with a barrage of TV spots surrounding the MTV VMAs.
It stands to reason that the marketing blitz and word of mouth will jack those tryout numbers way up. How many will stay in after the trial period remains to be seen.
