Apple Music hits 15 million subscribers

OREANDA-NEWS. June 14, 2016. Apple Music has hit 15 million subscribers less than one year after launch, half the number of bigger rival Spotify.

Apple executive Eddy Cue announced the new number as the company introduced a redesign of the subscription music service "from the ground up," he said during a keynote address at the gadget maker's developers conference, known as WWDC.

The Cupertino, California, company launched Apple Music, its first subscription on-demand music service, at the end of June last year. As the dominant seller of digitally downloaded songs and albums, Apple resisted the burgeoning subscription-music model while upstarts like Sweden-based Spotify raced to dominate.

Spotify has 30 million subscribers to Apple's 15 million.

During the keynote, Apple demonstrated an updated version of Apple Music. The new app makes it easier to get to the user's own downloaded music with a "Recently Added" section that includes the newest albums, songs and playlists. The music player now shows lyrics, and Apple's "Connect" feature that links artists directly with listeners has been folded into a "For You" tab that also offers up songs tailored to each listener.

This is a developing story. Follow our live blog for the latest info from Apple's ongoing WWDC keynote.