Apple Music Streams Doubled in First Half Of 2015; JP Morgan Sees Positive Impact For Stock

In a report published Monday, JP Morgan analyst Rod Hall stated that Americans streamed 135 billion audio tracks and music videos over the Internet during the first half of 2015.

Citing data from Nielsen, Hall noted that the 135 billion audio tracks and music streams represents a more than doubling from the same time period a year ago. Meanwhile, 2015 digital downloads fell 10.4 percent from a year ago to 531.6 million while overall album sales fell four percent to 116 million.

Hall noted that the large amount of streaming content occurred in light of any major new service, such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s newly released Apple Music.

"Our own experience with Apple Music has been positive," Hall stated. "Integration with old iTunes music libraries was seamless and we found curated playlists to be better than manual programming though no different from our experience with Beats Music."

Related Link: Apple Music Could 'Open The Door' To TV Service

Hall added that Beats One radio is a "high quality" offering but not necessarily a "key swing factor." The analyst also noted that Apple Music's main attraction is its ability to integrate with both Apple's own platforms and key third-party platforms like Android.

Hall concluded that this represents a "slight positive impact for Apple."

Separately, Hall also wrote that Apple continues to "populate" its secretive car development team with employees from other divisions within the company. Citing media reports, the analyst pointed out that the internal poaching has now gotten so extensive that various senior managers are beginning to voice their concerns.

Nevertheless, this development represents a "neutral impact" for Apple, according to Hall.

Shares of Apple remain Overweight rated with an unchanged $145 price target.