NEW YORK: Apple chief Tim Cook said yesterday the technology giant’s new music service has about 6.5 million subscribers.
“It is going really well,” Cook said at the opening of a technology forum in California. “Lots of people are liking it.”
The service launched at the end of June in more than 100 countries.
More than 8million people are still in the free trial of Apple Music, pushing the total number of users above 15 million, according to Cook.
He credited people who fashion playlists. “We have music experts just like the DJs when we were growing up,” Cook said, setting the service apart from rivals Spotify and Pandora, which use software to tailor tunes to people’s tastes.
Apple Music began with the launch of Beats 1, a radio station featuring shows by high-profile artists and offering streaming – for the first time – of Taylor Swift’s blockbuster 1989 album.
To edge its way into the streaming music market, Apple offered a three-month trial, after which subscriptions cost $9.99 (about R135) a month.
On another entertainment front, Apple will begin taking orders for the new Apple TV from Monday. Shipments will start by the end of next week, according to Cook. “This is the foundation of the future of TV,” he said.
The new Apple TV will have a version of the App Store that has been such a hit on iPhones. Siri virtual assistant software allows for language searches for shows, such as asking for something funny or an actor by name.
By letting media companies keep control of their content in apps, Apple could find new money-making models, while sidestepping worries studios might have about distribution rights.
“What has to happen in the TV land is it has to be brought up and modernised,” Cook said. “It is almost as though you step into a time capsule when you step into your living room.”
Cook declined to provide figures regarding Apple Watch sales, but said the company shipped “a lot” in the first quarter they were released and that number has ramped.