Spotify is the poster child of streaming music, having done more than any other company to grow the segment and to prove the freemium business model at scale. It has built an active user base that outshines any other freemium music service, and through tactics such as telco bundles and pricing discounts continues to squeeze every last drop of opportunity out of the            subscription model. Spotify has successfully diversified its user base beyond its initial early adopter base and now has a broad mix of users in which females are as well represented as males – no small feat for the traditionally male dominated streaming music market.

Companies mentioned in this report: Apple Music, Deezer, Napster, Netflix, SoundCloud, Spotify, Telia, Tidal, Vevo, YouTube