Source: S3studio / Getty

Last year it was reported that Spotify’s reign at the top in the streaming wars came to an end when Apple surpassed the Swedish company in the US despite the numbers not being disclosed. Now according to the Wall Street Journal, the tech giant has more paid subscribers in the United States as well.

The WSJ states that a report released back in February confirms that Apple now has 28 million paid subscribers to Spotify’s 26 million in the US alone. A silver lining Spotify can still hang its hat on is that it currently leads in worldwide subscribers which include the United States and users who have free accounts.

But Apple’s growth rates are exponentially higher both in the US and globally coming in at 2.6% to 3% with Spotify’s sitting at 1.5% to 2%. The tech giant has a clear advantage over Spotify being that there are 900 million iPhone owners in the world with its Apple Music service pre-installed on the devices. Plus now some cellphone service providers include subscriptions to the music streaming service as part of deals when you sign up with them so that also helps.

Spotify isn’t to be counted out just yet though, partnership deals with Sprint and Apple’s direct competitor Samsung help keep the company’s growth consistent. While all streaming services pretty much offer the same $9.99 plan, both Apple and Spotify are banking on exclusives to help set them apart from each other even though music companies are opting away from exclusive album deals with the streaming apps.

We wonder how Tidal is faring out in the streaming wars.

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Photo: S3studio / Getty

Source: HipHopWired.com

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