Global online music streaming subscriptions rise 35 pc to 394 mn in Q1

Promotional offers like free trials and subscription price cuts in emerging markets added to the growth," Counterpoint said in a report. Increase in podcast genres on the music streaming platforms was another big factor for people to tune in, it added.

Global online music streaming subscriptions spiked 35 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020 to reach 394 million subscriptions, Counterpoint Research said on Wednesday. "This was driven by increased usage of the OTT platforms as people stayed at home amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Promotional offers like free trials and subscription price cuts in emerging markets added to the growth," Counterpoint said in a report.

Increase in podcast genres on the music streaming platforms was another big factor for people to tune in, it added. According to the report, Spotify led the charts with a market share of 30 per cent in revenue terms and 33 per cent in terms of paid subscriptions in the first quarter. Apple Music followed with 25 per cent revenue share and 21 per cent subscription share.

Amazon Music had 12 per cent share in terms of revenue, followed by YouTube Music (9 per cent) and Pandora (5 per cent), it added. "The growth in paid subscriptions (35 per cent y-o-y) was once again more than the 20 per cent y-o-y growth in monthly active users (MAUs). This indicates that people from the free MAU universe are upgrading to become premium subscribers for an improved experience," Counterpoint Research Analyst Abhilash Kumar said.

This also indicates that it is relatively difficult to bring users into the system, but once they come in, it is relatively easy to make them upgrade, he added. Talking about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the OTT industry, Kumar said it experienced an uptick as people stayed at home. "However, the listening patterns have changed from listening while commuting to listening at home. Radio, news channels and podcasts related to wellness and meditation have grown. On the devices side, streaming time on smart audio devices and television grew even as listening hours on Android Auto and Car Play declined amid less commute," he said.

While the COVID-19 outbreak proved to be negative for most of the industries, it improved the overall scenario for the music streaming segment as consumers getting some extra time to explore these platforms that has accelerated the user growth rate, the report said..