Report claims Apple Music has surpassed Spotify in terms of paid subscriber count in the US

A recent report from Digital Music News claims Apple Music has overtaken Spotify when it comes to paid subscribers in the US. The story cites an anonymous source from a major US-based distributor who shared a report of a subscriber tally for different music streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and Sirius XM. Both Apple Music and Spotify now have over 20 million subscribers with the former just “a hair ahead” at “20 million plus” members. The new information claims Apple Music is set to widen this distance in the coming months. At the moment, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, which operates in North America exclusively, is leading at over 33 million subscribers.

This report follows up a story in The Wall Street Journal back in February that claims Apple Music’s growth rate was on paced to eventually pass Spotify in the US. Apple’s growth rate was pegged at five percent, compared to Spotify’s two percent. Based on these figures, Apple Music would surpass Spotify in the summer.

Drake shatters first day release records on Spotify and Apple Music

On the first day of release of Drake’s Scorpion album over the weekend, it has broken a number of streaming records already. According to SpotifyCharts.com, the album’s individual track totaled 132,450,203 streams on the first day, which was 50,000,000 more than the previous record set by Post Malone’s recent album Beerbongs & Bentleys. Spotify has confirmed that the record has been broken by a large measure but isn’t confirming the numbers officially, saying SpotifyChart’s numbers may not be fully accurate. If the album numbers continue to at this rate, it could easily reach a billion streams within the first week. Post Malone also currently holds the record with 236,500,546 streams in the U.S. and 411,816,710 globally in its first week. Drake was also the one who previously held that first-week record for 22-track mixtape More Life, which set the record at 385 million streams.

For Apple Music, he’s also broken the single-day record as well with over 170 million streams, which the Canadian superstar previously held for 2017 release, More Life. That mixtape was streamed 89.9 million times on the first day.

Source: Variety

Feel the World Cup fever with Apple

Starting today, you can keep up and celebrate all things World Cup on Apple devices and services. You can ask Siri about everything from scores, standings, team rosters, schedules, etc. The App Store will feature favorite apps and games from football stars. App Store editors will even offer tips on how to take perfect football photo and get your football fix on social media. If you use the Apple TV App, you can keep track of all of the action on TSN and RDS, Bell Media’s English and French language apps in Canada. You can favourite teams and follow their matches in Up Next as well as receive notifications on your Apple devices when their team is playing or when a match is coming up.

If you just want to keep up on the news, the News app will make it easier for you to follow what’s happening. You get up-to-date scores and schedules as well as a knockout bracket and profiles of the event’s key players from Eight by Eight magazine. Meanwhile, Apple Music will have playlists for each participating nation that feature the most exciting local artists the teams have selected. And Apple Podcast and iBooks will both feature editorial collections called “The Beautiful Game” that highlight podcasts and books that celebrate the sport. If you want to show your love for the sport creatively, Clips now comes with football-themed graphics, which include an animated sticker, label, and poster with customizable text.

Pandora, Apple Music also stops promoting R Kelly’s music

Following news of Spotify no longer promoting R Kelly’s music, Pandora announced it has stopped promoting singer R Kelly on its music streaming platform. According to an unnamed source, Apple has done the same thing quietly over the past few weeks. R Kelly’s music has been pulled from playlists like “Best Slow Jams of the 90s, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. But he is still prominently featured in the artwork for the playlists. Also, several R Kelly playlists are still on the service.

A couple of weeks ago, the women of color of the Time’s Up movement joined the #MuteRKelly campaign and issued an open letter that calls on multiple companies (like RCA Records, Spotify, Apple Music, and Ticketmaster) to cut ties with the artist in the wake of the recent sexual and physical abuse allegations levied against him.

Source: Pitchfork