Apple Music US subscriber growth outpacing Spotify -Wall Street Journal

Apple Music is on track to overtake Spotify by number of U.S. subscribers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people in the music business familiar with figures reported by the two services. Spotify is currently the largest music streaming service globally, with Apple Music coming in second. Representatives for both Apple and Spotify could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. Apple Music’s U.S. subscribers grow about five percent monthly, while Spotify’s U.S. subscribers grow by about two percent monthly, the Wall Street Journal report said, citing people familiar with the numbers. http://on.wsj.com/2nHpjsJ

Neither Apple Music nor Spotify publicly breaks out figures for its U.S. subscribers or any other markets. Apple Music told the Wall Street Journal it now has 36 million global subscribers, up from 30 million the company reported in September. Spotify said on Twitter in January that it had 70 million subscribers. According to the report, the number of subscribers to both services are often boosted by individual users who are on family plans and users with discounted subscriptions that come in a bundle along with other services.

Spotify is due to carry out a highly anticipated initial public offering in the first half of 2018. The company has confidentially filed for an IPO with U.S. regulators, according to a source familiar with the matter.