Apple Music Passes 50-Million Mark

• Apple Music’s streaming service now has more than 50 million users via paid subscriptions and free trials. That’s the word from Apple CEO Tim Cook, who revealed those figures Tuesday during an interview on Bloomberg TV.

That number is up from an announced 36 million subscribers in February, 38 million in March and 40 million in April. As Variety reports, “Cook’s decision to include free trials, which were at 8 million at the time of the 40 million announcement and not included in that figure, keeps it on the more modest but still very impressive 2-million-paid-subscriber-per-month track it has posted throughout this year.” The story adds that Apple Music still lags behind Spotify, which, in its first earnings report as a public company earlier this month announced it had reached 75 million users.

Last month Apple also announced the promotion of Oliver Schusser to lead Apple Music Worldwide, sporting the fancy new title of Vice President of Apple Music & International Content. Schusser will relocate from London to California, splitting his time between Apple Park in Cupertino and Apple’s offices in Culver City. He will continue to lead international teams in 38 different offices.

Concurrent with Schusser’s promotion, Apple marketing executive Tracey Hannelly will now lead International, which services 155 markets. Hannelly joined the company in 2007 beginning in Australia and New Zealand. These appointments have no impact on the current standing of Jimmy Iovine, says an insider. Schusser will report to Eddy Cue, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services, and Hannelly will report to Schusser.