We know that lockdown during the pandemic boosted the numbers for various entertainment platforms. The reason? Millions of people, including ourselves, were looking for ways to cope with the difficult situation that existed abroad. But it was not only the proposals of series, movies and video games, also those of streaming music . Curiously, this last sector has not slowed its growth since the health crisis began.
As the months went by, especially during the second half of 2020, services like Netflix saw their abnormal growth begin to slow down. However, it was a phenomenon that everyone expected, as most of the new subscribers arrived during the most difficult months of the pandemic. Streaming music, on the other hand, has not stopped its exponential growth . Not even in recent months when, apparently, the world begins to see the end of the crisis.
According to data from Midia, only in 2020 music streaming services added 100 million subscribers, reaching a total of 467 million. However, to everyone's surprise, during the first quarter of 2021 another 19.5 million users were subscribed . This amount shows that market interest in Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, to name just a few, has not diminished.
Spotify leads the music sector in streaming
Now, if we focus on the numbers of each service, we can highlight that Spotify maintains its dominance in the sector . Those directed by Daniel Ek added 27 million subscribers between the first quarter of 2020 and the same period of 2021, thus becoming the streaming music platform that gained the most users. Of course, its market share fell slightly (to 32%) due to the advance of its main competitors.
In second place – in market share – is Apple Music with 16%, followed by Amazon Music with 13%. The biggest surprise is the fourth position, with Chinese giant Tencent reaching 13%. Google (YouTube Music), meanwhile, remains in fifth place with 8%. Mind you, Midia's analysis takes a complete turn by focusing on the fastest growing percentages. It is in this area where YouTube Music occupies the first place with 60%, followed by Tencent with 40% and Amazon with 27%. Unfortunately for Apple Music, they fell behind with 12%.
According to the firm, this is because Google focused its efforts on emerging markets . Also, their target audience is Gen Z, as they are trying to replicate Spotify's achievement among millennials several years ago. There is no doubt that streaming music is going through its best moment and the outlook for the remainder of 2021 looks promising.
