According to a survey published today, 48 percent of Apple Music listeners polled say they have given up listening to the streaming music — and the free trial isn’t even over yet.

Meanwhile, 61 percent claim they have disabled the auto-renewal option on their accounts so as not to be charged when the trial period ends in September.

The survey was carried out by MusicWatch, which interviewed 5,000 U.S. customers aged 13 and older. That’s a tiny fraction of the 11 million users who have signed up for Apple Music, but if the survey results are indicative of a larger trend, it’s less than good news for Apple.

Apple disputes the numbers, telling The Verge that “79 percent of users who have signed up for Apple Music are still using the service.”

MusicWatch managing partner Russ Crupnick puts the lack of adoption down to “the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good service currently exist” — referring to Apple Music rivals like Spotify.

Interestingly, only 30 percent of Apple Music users listen to Beats 1, while 27 percent use Connect.

Since these are both areas where Spotify can’t compete with Apple Music, it seems that Apple could do better to highlight these services. Fortunately, that’s exactly what seems to be happening. Apple’s latest Apple Music ads and the company’s statements concerning the Apple Music Festival both focus heavily on Apple Music’s Connect feature.

The MusicWatch survey also suggests Apple Music has attracted 28 percent of Spotify’s paying customers, showing the new service is certainly appealing to people who are already used to paying for streaming music.

What’s most important now is advertising Apple Music and what it does better than anyone else. Fortunately for Apple, that’s one place where the company excels.

Source: New York Post

This story has been updated to add Apple’s response to the survey results.