Spotify continues to be a market leader and recorded revenue growth of 23% in 2019. Music streamers focus on creating exceptional content that will appeal to the listener. And we are ready to take stock of 2019.
According to the latest data from Counterpoint Research, the number of music streaming subscribers has grown by 32% compared to the same period last year and reached 358 million subscriptions in 2019. This is due to the presence of exclusive content, such as podcasts, originals, which attracted people to the platform and ultimately turned them into subscribers. The company expects that the number of subscriptions will increase by more than 25% compared to the same period last year and will exceed 450 million subscriptions by the end of 2020.
Commenting on the general market, analyst Abhilash Kumar said: “Paid subscriptions are up 32% year on year from 23% year on year of the total MAU. This suggests that people are willing to pay for streaming music. The platforms follow a two-stage approach to getting subscribers, firstly, registering them on their platform as free users, and secondly, offering them attractive offers to turn them into paid subscribers. ”
Spotify led CY 2019 with 31% of total revenue and 35% of total paid subscriptions. Apple Music is in second place with a 24% share of total industry revenue and a 19% share of paid subscriptions. Due to the fact that Apple pays great attention to the services segment, which includes Apple Music, their subscription base grew by 36% compared to the same period last year in 2019. Amazon Music subscriptions reached 15% in 2019, compared with 10% in 2018.
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Speaking about the best performers, Kumar added: “Spotify has maintained a leading position through promotions such as the free Spotify Premium for three months, lower prices, special campaigns and focus on exclusive content. Technology giants such as Amazon, Apple, Google, began to concentrate on streaming music and have enough money to compete with Spotify.
Discussing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry, the analyst added: “We expect the OTT sector to experience a surge as people stay at home, actively monitoring the latest updates. During this flash, OTT audio consumption switched from music streaming to radio. People in heavily affected areas are concerned about the outbreak and therefore constantly monitor the news on TV / radio for updates. “The craving for news channels and podcasts has increased dramatically, while the demand for streaming music has fallen.”
Over 80% of music streaming revenue comes from paid subscriptions. The rest came from advertising and partnerships with brands and telecommunications companies. Therefore, increasing paid subscriptions is paramount for music streaming platforms.
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is an international research firm specializing in technology products in the TMT industry. It serves large technology and financial companies, offering various monthly reports, individual projects and a detailed analysis of the mobile communications markets.
