Google's paid music services have eclipsed 15 million subscribers, according to two people familiar with the numbers, a milestone for a company that has struggled to build subscription media businesses.
The figure includes subscribers to two services - YouTube Music and Google Play Music, an older service that is being folded into YouTube Music - said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public. The number also includes some customers who are still on promotional trials.
Google, part of Alphabet, is still a long way from the market leaders: Spotify Technology has more than 100 million subscribers, while Apple has more than 50 million. But the progress is a good sign for an ad-supported company that has rarely gotten customers to pay for its services.
YouTube declined to comment on the total number of customers for its paid music service, but it said subscribers to YouTube Music and Premium grew 60 per cent between March 2018 and March of this year. Premium subscribers pay for the music service, as well as access to the regular YouTube without ads.
YouTube has been synonymous with free since its founding in 2005, attracting more than 2 billion users by offering up a bottomless buffet of videos spanning music, comedy and learning at no cost. But the site has been trying for years to convert some of those customers into paid subscribers.
