Apple executives said Dr. Dre’s “Compton: A Soundtrack” had 25 million streams worldwide on Apple Music in its first week and sold nearly half a million copies in iTunes, scoring Apple’s first high-profile success with exclusive content, The New York Times reports. While not quite popular enough to unseat “Kill the Lights” by country star Luke Bryan from the top spot on Billboard’s charts, Dr.
Dre’s first album since 2001 netted 11 million streams in the U.S. alone. But compared with other, more broadly available streaming hits this year, those totals are modest.
“If If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” by rapper Drake netted 48 million streams in its first week with the benefit of additional plays on Spotify, which boasts a paid subscriber base which is about twice as large as Apple Music’s reported 11 million users. With Dr. Dre’s album also likely benefiting from the coinciding release of the NWA biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” industry observers are still skeptical that Apple Music’s early successes will translate to paying users once the three-month free trial period ends.
