Interview with Apple Music's Jimmy Iovine, Zane Lowe, and Larry Jackson on how to continue to grow the service, as it tops 30M paying subscribers
From left: Zane Lowe, Larry Jackson and Jimmy Iovine photographed Sept. 18 at Apple Music's Beats 1 Studio in Los Angeles.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple Music had reported more than 20 million paying subscribers in December 2016; reaching 30 million extends that paid-growth arc rather than marking a standalone launch. Iovine and Jackson had also framed the service around relationships with stars, exclusives and labels, while Apple’s earlier leadership discussion emphasized Beats 1 and playlist curation.
First-order effects
- Apple Music’s paid audience has expanded materially from the previously reported 20 million-plus level, giving Iovine, Lowe and Jackson a larger subscriber base to retain as they pursue further growth.
- The milestone puts added weight on the executives’ growth strategy because Iovine has characterized streaming services as utility-like businesses with low margins.
Second-order effects
- Labels and artists become more consequential partners for Apple Music as its larger paid base raises the stakes of the star, exclusivity and label relationships previously emphasized by Iovine and Jackson.
- Apple Music’s need to keep adding subscribers reinforces the importance of differentiated programming and curation associated with Beats 1 and Zane Lowe’s role.
Third-order effects
- If paid subscriber growth continues while streaming retains utility-like economics, music services will be pressured to seek scale and differentiation at the same time rather than relying on high margins.
- The coverage points to a streaming market in which platform relationships with labels and artists remain central to converting audience scale into a durable service.
The trend: Subscription music is scaling through larger paid audiences while its operators try to differentiate services in a low-margin streaming model.