Online music streaming entered a golden era in 2019, with paid subscriptions crossing 350 million users. Moving to 2020, the year started with a global pandemic where the COVID-19 virus outbreak was seen in several countries. As a result, lockdowns were imposed in most countries, and that turned out to be a silver lining to accelerate the growth of the music streaming market. Global subscriptions hit 394 million in Q1 2020, with podcasts continuing to drive growth.
Podcasts have seen big growth as even individual content creators are trying to cater to this segment of the audience. In the current challenging environment due to the coronavirus, health-, wellness- and meditation-related podcasts have grown. Other genres include personal finance and entertainment. The lockdowns have even caused a shift in listening patterns. Earlier, people would listen to podcasts when commuting. Now, as people are spending more time at home, listening has increased on devices like smart TVs, smart speakers, and more.
To attract more customers, music streaming platforms like Spotify have been bringing promotional offers in key markets like India. The company is offering a yearly subscription plan for just INR 699 (around $9). Apple Music, on the other hand, has expanded to 52 new countries, offering free subscriptions for six months. In terms of revenue share, Spotify leads the pack, followed by Apple Music and Amazon Music.
In the latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, host Maurice Klaehne and research analyst Abhilash Kumar discuss the growth of the music streaming market in Q1 2020. We also deep-dive to understand factors that are driving the growth of podcasts and touch upon the revenue share of the music streaming platform.
Our detailed report on the Global Online Music Streaming Market in Q1 2020 can be found here.
Hit the play button to listen to the podcast
Also available for listening/download on:
