According to a report by Shirley Halperin for Variety, Apple Music's Eddy Cue released a memo stating that the streaming service has officially surpassed the milestone of 40 million paid subscribers this week. This news came as the company also named former vice president of Apple Music & International Content Oliver Schusser head of Apple Music Worldwide.

Halperin described Schusser's plan to handle his new role in a quick overview:

Schusser will relocate from London to California, splitting his time between Apple Park in Cupertino and Apple's offices in Culver City. While in the U.K., he played a key role in the acquisition of Shazam, which has yet to receive European regulatory approval. He will continue to lead international teams in 38 different offices.

Additionally, it was stated that Tracey Hannelly, who has been with the company since 2007, will undertake Schusser's former position.

As for the new subscriber count, Variety reported that the service reached the impressive number at an equally impressive monthly growth rate, especially in comparison to Spotify (which the Wall Street Journal claimed Apple was on track to overtake in terms of paid subscribers by this summer):

Also in Cue's memo, obtained by Variety, was the latest subscription milestone achieved by the three-year-old service. Apple Music now counts more than 40 million paid subscribers in 115 countries. With some 8 million auditioning the service via free trials, the service is gaining ground on its competitors — namely Spotify, which went public on April 3 — at a monthly growth rate of 5% (versus Spotify's 2%), per a recent report in WSJ.

However, Apple still has a bit of a way to go — as of December 2017, Spotify boasted a wild 71 million premium subscribers in its filing with the SEC.

Thoughts?

Do you think Apple Music will overtake Spotify this year? How do you feel about Oliver Schusser's promotion? Share in the comments below!