Apple losing business as Apple Music users jump ship

Apple Music continues to receive flak as users are reportedly jumping off ship. The company denies the claim, saying that retention is not too bad. Apple also maintains it is keen on proving that the subscription-only model is the way forward.

Apple broke its tight-lipped streak as it released Apple Music numbers on August 19. The company said the around 21 percent who signed up under the trial are discontinuing the service. This is against the numbers MusicWatch released saying that 48 percent jumped ship.

The music research company obtained the numbers through a survey of 5,000 U.S. consumers. The survey asked about their usage including their knowledge about Apple Music. Apple refuted the claim in a statement to The Verge. The company emphasised that 79 percent of users who signed up are still active.

Apple refrained from commenting on other parts of the survey which indicate around 11 percent of iOS users are using Apple Music. In a strange turn of things, MusicWatch also claimed that 64 percent of Apple Music users will possibly pay for the service should their trial end. Also, 61 percent of the users already turned off auto-renew.

“In terms of benchmarking Apple Music, 40 percent of iOS users are buying digital downloads from iTunes, suggesting trial of Apple Music could be higher," Russ Crupnick, managing partner of MusicWatch, said in the press release:

He also added: “That’s the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good services currently exist.” In July, Apple claimed that Apple Music gained 10 million subscribers supporting competitive edge of the music service. MacWorld pointed out that this may be the same reason why the company decided to refute MusicWatch's survey.

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