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Music market subscriber shares 2021 Growth is not letting up yet

Report by Mark Mulligan
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The 20,000 foot view:  This report presents key figures from MIDiA’s global music subscriber market shares model. The full dataset is published alongside this report, with quarterly data (from        2015 to        2021) and annual label trade revenue (from FY 2015 to FY 2020) for more than        streaming services across        different markets. The Excel dataset also includes an extensive consumer survey dataset.

Key insights

  • At the end of        2021 there were        million music subscribers globally – up        million        from one year earlier, and faster growth than the prior year
  • Spotify continues to have the largest music subscriber base, with its        million        2021 subscribers representing        of the global total
  • Though Apple Music still had the second largest subscriber base in        2021        million), it was the slowest growing of the top five DSPs
  • Amazon Music’s subscriber base grew by        in the        months up to        2021, reaching        million and a        market share
  • Despite being constrained to China, Tencent Music Entertainment had the fourth largest subscriber base        million) globally in        2021
  • YouTube Music Premium was the fastest growing top five DSP in the        months leading up to        2021, increasing        to reach        million subscribers
  • Spotify commands the highest levels of weekly active users (WAUs), daily active users (DAUs), and paid users across the pure-play audio DSPs
  • Spotify leads the        million strong US subscription market, with        market share, followed by Apple        and Amazon       
  • Spotify’s        million Australian subscribers gives it one of its highest market shares anywhere in the world        and Apple being a distant second with        million       
  • UK subscribers slowed from               2019 –        2020) to               2020 –        2021), with revenue growth following a similar trajectory
  • Germany’s        million revenues make it the third largest market globally        of total), while it has the fourth largest subscriber base with        million 
  • Melon dominated South Korea with a        market share, but YouTube quadrupled subscribers between        2019 and        2021 to become a strong second placed player
  • Japan is the only major music market globally where Amazon is the leading DSP, with its        million subscribers in        2021 representing        market share

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon Music, Anghami, Apple Music, AWA, Deezer, Gaana, Genie Music, YouTube Music, Hungama, Jio Saavn, Line Music, Melon, Napster, NetEase, Pandora, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tencent Music, Tidal, VKontakte, Wynk, Xiami, Yandex 

Notes: 

  •   All revenues refer to label trade revenues (i.e., royalties paid for master recordings). 
  • Subscriber additions refer to net additions and do not reflect churned subscribers.
  • For ease of reading, digital service providers (DSPs) are typically shortened. Importantly, this means that all references to YouTube refer to YouTube Music Premium, rather than the main YouTube app, unless otherwise stated.

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