Dr. Dre (who burst onto the rap scene as a solo artist in 1992 with “The Chronic”) may be living large, but his Beats Music is definitely small.
The four-month-old subscription streaming service had just 111,000 subscribers in March, according to a report released on Tuesday — that puts it w-a-ay behind sector leader Spotify, with 6 million paid subscribers.
Apple is in the process of acquiring Beats Electronics, which makes audio gear, and its Beats Music operation, for $3.2 billion.
The subscriber number, reported in a blog post at The Trichordist (a site crusading for better streaming fees for artists), reveals it had a slow start out of the gate — despite kickoff TV spots during the Super Bowl and the Grammys and spots on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show.
Beats also had plenty of promotional help from partner AT&T, which is offering three months of free service.
While Beats Music’s marketing budget hasn’t been revealed, some put it as high as $40 million. If that figure has been spent, then each customer — many of whom have signed up for free trials — cost the firm $360 to acquire.
A spokesman for Beats Music declined comment.
Spotify had about a million paying customers globally a year after its US launch in summer 2011. Domestic numbers weren’t given.
Meanwhile, Apple board members were not amused at Dr. Dre’s Facebook post that seemed to confirm the Apple deal before it is announced, sources said.
The deal is expected to be announced late this week or early next, sources told The Post.
At the end of April, Apple’s iTunes store began offering sign-ups for Beats Music, which may energize subscriber enrollment.
“One thing that’s clear, we’ve decisively moved from ownership of media — the ship has sailed; people don’t care about owning content anymore,” BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield told The Post.
“We’re in an access economy. Apple needs to adjust to that,” he said.