Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Amazon Music… Online listening platforms are constantly developing, becoming the main means of distributing music. So much so that subscriptions to these services increased by 26.4% in the second quarter of 2021, according to a study by the analysis firm Midia Research.
Some 521.3 million music lovers subscribed to a music streaming service at the end of the period studied by Midia Search. This figure is up 109.5 million from the previous year. Surprisingly, this increase is not due to the giants of online listening like the Swedish Spotify but to… YouTube Music.
For a long time, artists and record labels looked down on Google’s video hosting service. Although it earned them millions of views, they often complained that they weren’t capitalizing enough on this popular buzz. Things have changed a lot since then, however, and YouTube even launched its own music streaming platform in 2018.
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And it seems that a growing number of music lovers are embracing it. While YouTube Music’s market share is only 8%, Midia Research observed an increase of over 50% in the 12 months to Q2 2021.
It is the only music streaming player in the West to have recorded such an increase. YouTube Music owes this impressive result to members of Generation Z and young Millennials, two targets particularly coveted by Spotify and company.
Revenge of Asian streaming services
However, Spotify retains its number one position. The Swedish group alone accounts for 31% of the global paid streaming market share, followed by Apple Music at 15% and Amazon Music at 13%. But Spotify’s massive dominance in the industry may be coming to an end as Midia Research sees a slight slowdown in its growth in recent years.
He is increasingly betting on podcasts to increase his global subscriber base, and counts former President Barack Obama as well as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in his catalog.
Spotify will have to redouble its efforts if it does not want to be overtaken by its competitors in the near future. Emerging players such as Tencent Music and NetEase Cloud Music in China are leading the way. They represent 18% market share, although they are only available in China, and had 35.7 million subscribers over the period analyzed by Midia Research.
Meanwhile, Russia hasn’t been left out of the equation with Yandex Music. This streaming service saw its number of subscribers double in the last year, giving it a 2% share of the global streaming market. Proof that this sector is becoming an increasingly diversified market.
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