Apple now holds a 19% market share of the global music streaming subscription market, according to new estimates on the streaming industry released by Counterpoint Research.
As expected, Spotify holds the majority of the market share with 31% of the market, and 35% of all revenue from paid music subscriptions and Apple Music comes in at number two with a 19% share of the global market and a 24% share of revenues from music streaming.
According to their estimates, Apple Music’s subscription base grew by 36% year-over-year as more people make the switch to paid music subscriptions rather than freemium models.
Other players include Amazon Music, which now holds 15% of the global market share, and Tencent Music, popular in China, with 11% of the market. YouTube’s music streaming arm has a 6% share of the market – though this figure doesn’t include free-to-view content and music videos, and is exclusive to its paid music service – and 14% of the market is shared by other players, such as TIDAL, iHeartRadio and international music streaming services.
Speaking of the figures, Abhilash Kumar of Counterpoint Research said: “Spotify maintained its top spot with the help of promotional activities like free Spotify Premium for three months, price cuts, customized campaigns like Spotify and a focus on exclusive content. Tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google have started focusing on music streaming and have sufficient cash at their disposal to give stiff competition to Spotify.
“Apple Music is making improvements in its app like the introduction of night mode, curated playlists to target a group, etc. Similarly, Amazon Music has been trying lossless music and is creating its own niche where it competes with Tidal.”
According to their figures, more than 80% of all revenue from streaming music came from paid subscriptions, whereas 20% came from advertisements and partnerships.
The figures also showed that revenue from music streaming will continue to climb, and it’s estimated that there will be more than 240 million paying music streaming subscribers by the end of 2020.
Are you pleased to hear that Apple Music is in second place? Do you think the company needs to do more, and offer a cheaper or free alternative to rival Spotify? Let us know on social media and check back soon for more news and rumors on Apple, every week.