The release of Dr Dre’s new album was a test for Apple Music’s reach

HAVING already made a decent entry into the world of streaming services, Apple Music faced it first big test to attract new customers. How did it go?

This photo provided by Universal Pictures shows, Aldis Hodge, from left, as MC Ren, Neil Brown, Jr. as DJ Yella, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. as Ice Cube and Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, in the film, “Straight Outta Compton." The movie released in U.S. theaters on Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. (Jaimie Trueblood/Universal Pictures via AP)

BOASTING more than 800 million customer accounts worldwide, Apple has long been considered one of the world’s foremost music retailers.

So when Apple announced it was making an entry into streaming at the end June, it appeared Spotify would soon have an authentic rival.

The streaming service attempted to entice music fans with individual access to 30 million songs, human-created playlists and a live radio station.

Earlier this month, Apple announced it had attracted 11 million trial subscribers, which will convert to $9.99 monthly paid subscriptions if they do not opt out of the service.

Technology researcher Jan Dawson said this was not a bad start given Apple had made a relatively late entry into an already saturated market.

“In the context of other music services, Apple Music has made a great start,” he told Tech Pinions.

“But in the context of Apple’s overall base, it’s made a pretty slow start.”

Mr Dawson said the real challenge was attracting users that are new to the concept of streaming services.

“There’s still the issue of winning over Millennials, who never pay for music, by showing them you’re offering something that will improve their lives,” he said.

“And finally, there are people out there who I think understand its value, but we still have to go out and get them.”

The first real test for Apple Music to win over music fans came with the August 7 release of Dr Dre’s album Compton: A Soundtrack.

The album Apple Music was hoping would succeed.

There was no doubt the album was going to be a massive given it had been 16 years in the making, but no one knew exactly how successful Apple Music would be at delivering the blockbuster release.

As it turned out, the Apple exclusive had 25 million streams globally in the first week of its release and was also downloaded through iTunes half a million times.

The former record executive that helped build Apple Music, Jimmy Iovine, said he was pleased with the result.

“We’re beginning to show what we can do in terms of communicating music to a worldwide audience and helping artists at the same time,” he told New York Times.

While Apple seemed impressed with these statistics of the release, it still fell short of other landmark hip-hop releases dropped earlier this year.

Topping the stats was Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, which clocked 48 million streams in one week, while Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly reached close to 39 million.

However, as Compton: A Soundtrack was widely considered a stunning comeback for one of the most dominant forces in hip hop, it would appear the release itself didn’t reflect the statistics when compared to those other releases.

It is likely Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s releases greatly benefited from Spotify’s reach, which has 20 million paid subscribers and another 55 million people free users.

In the coming weeks, Apple will be launching an extensive marketing push for its streaming service through the use of television commercials and billboards aimed to increase its customer base.

Additionally, as Compton: A Soundtrack remains an exclusive on Apple Music and iTunes, it will be interesting to see if the company can attract more subscribers.

All in all, it looks like Apple are slowly staking its claim in the world of streaming.