Is Apple Music really beating Spotify with U.S. users? WSJ report says yes

Apple Music may have gotten a nice win in its battle for music streaming supremacy against Spotify, the title of the most popular streaming service in the U.S. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has overtaken the Swedish streaming giant as the most popular service in the U.S. Citing anonymous sources, the Journal reports that Apple had over 28 million paid subscribers in the U.S. at the end of February, 2 million more than Spotify's 26 million.

Apple declined to comment when contacted by USA TODAY. Spotify did not respond to a request for comment.

The report comes as the battle between the two giants continues to intensify. Last month, Spotify announced it had filed a complaint with European Commission regulators saying that Apple's 30% tax on in-app purchases made on its iOS platform was unfair and gives Apple's own services a distinct advantage.

"Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, including upgrading from our Free to our Premium service," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a blog post.

"If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our Premium membership well above the price of Apple Music. And to keep our price competitive for our customers, that isn’t something we can do." 

Spotify has also gone on the offensive to make its offering more attractive, partnering with Hulu to bundle both companies streaming services into one $9.99 per month package. 
 

Apple, meanwhile, has not been standing still. In January, the company announced it would partner with Verizon to offer free Apple Music subscriptions on some of Verizon's latest unlimited plans. 

Apple has also announced plans for additional subscription services including the magazine heavy News+ and video streaming TV+ as it continues to try and grow its services group. 

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Apple still has a ways to go to catch Spotify globally, however. Spotify says it had 207 million active users around the world at the end of last year with 96 million subscribers to its paid service. 

In November, the Financial Times reported Apple had 56 million Apple Music users. Unlike Spotify, Apple does not offer a free ad-supported streaming option.   

Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal