Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Music streaming services worldwide - statistics & facts
Music is a part of everyday life for most people. We enjoy music on the daily commute, while exercising, or simply when checking out the newest Taylor Swift album everybody is talking about. Therefore, it comes to no surprise that the music industry has been steadily growing over the last decade. However, while music has been a constant force in the audio world, the way music is consumed has changed dramatically with streaming services becoming an integral part of music consumption. While the lion鈥檚 share of revenue could be attributed to physical sales in 2012, by 2017, digital music streaming had overtaken both physical sales and digital music downloads The most recent estimates saw global music streaming grossing more than twice the amount of revenue than all other music segments combined.
Music streaming services have certainly revolutionized the way we consume music nowadays and their influence on the music industry is unlikely to subside in the coming years. Looking at the most recent developments in the industry, music fans will continue to stream music, especially as streaming services come up with new features to optimize the listening experience.
Music streaming is the new go-to
The number of music streaming subscribers reflects this development, growing from over 300 million global subscribers in the first half of 2019 to more than 710 million in the third quarter of 2023. As to be expected with the introduction of new consumption formats, younger generations adapt faster than older generations, with music streaming being no exception. While the generation of baby boomers is slowly picking up their streaming consumption, the medium is already dominant among millennials and Gen Z. Be that as it may, there are signs that the streaming market is reaching saturation with revenue growth slowing down significantly over the last years, yet remaining in doubles figures as of 2023.Spotify is dominating the streaming market
In the music streaming market, several services are competing for subscribers. Latest data suggests that market leader Spotify accounts for over 30 percent in global subscriber market share, keeping its closest competitors, Apple Music, Tencent Music, and Amazon Music, largely at bay. In numbers this means that the Stockholm-based streaming giant Spotify has accumulated over 240 million subscribers and roughly 620 million monthly active users as of 2024. The company can certainly owe this success story to its various AI-supported features that help Spotify keep listeners on its platform. A multitude of playlists with AI-created recommendations or well-known features such as the annual musical retrospective 鈥淪potify Wrapped鈥 support music lovers in the (re-)discovery of their new and old favorites.Music streaming services have certainly revolutionized the way we consume music nowadays and their influence on the music industry is unlikely to subside in the coming years. Looking at the most recent developments in the industry, music fans will continue to stream music, especially as streaming services come up with new features to optimize the listening experience.
