Apple refutes survey that says Apple Music users are jumping ship
Apple Music's panoply of bugs, cluttered user interface and overall instability has given the service a bit of a bad reputation in its first few months, but that doesn't appear to be driving away users. In a statement given to The Verge, Apple says that 78 percent of users who signed up for Apple Music are still using the service. This statement was meant to refute a study from research firm MusicWatch. According to the company's survey of 5,000 US consumers, 48 percent of those that tried Apple Music had stopped using it, despite the fact that it's free through at least September.
MusicWatch's survey also made it seem like more users could drop off before long, as well: 61 percent of Apple Music users surveyed turned off the service's auto-renew feature.This study comes just a few weeks after Apple Senior VP Eddy Cue said that more than 11 million customers had tried Apple Music, a number that "thrilled" the company.
Of course, as Apple itself has shown, one independent survey doesn't tell the whole story of Apple Music's fortunes. That's something that MusicWatch itself is quick to admit -- managing partner Russ Crupnick told Engadget that these results were best viewed as a snapshot of a rather unconventional launch. "It's a new way to go to market in terms of the free trial," Crupnick said. "I don't think these results are necessarily a reflection of the quality of the service." He also cautioned against making assumptions about those 48 percent of Apple Music users that stopped using it. "Even those who said they aren't using [Apple Music] at the moment, that doesn't mean they never will," Crupnick said. "Some of those folks could come back or they may just be more casual users."
