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State of the Screens

Streaming Audio Is In A Groove

By March 4, 2021No Comments

Music industry retail revenue (YoY growth) according to the RIAA:
1) 2011 – $7.1B (↑ 1%)
2) 2012 – $7.0B (↓ 1%)
3) 2013 – $7.0B (↑ 0%)
4) 2014 – $6.7B (↓ 4%)
5) 2015 – $6.7B (↑ 0%)
6) 2016 – $7.6B (↑ 13%)
7) 2017 – $8.8B (↑ 16%)
8) 2018 – $9.7B (↑ 10%)
9) 2019 – $11.1B (↑ 14%)
10) 2020 – $12.2B (↑ 10%)

Source of music industry retail revenue (YoY growth):
1) Streaming – 83%
2) Physical – 9%
3) Digital downloads – 6%
4) Synch – 2%

Streaming revenue for the music industry (YoY growth):
1) 2016 – $4.0B
2) 2017 – $5.7B (↑ 43%)
3) 2018 – $7.3B (↑ 28%)
4) 2019 – $8.9B (↑ 22%)
5) 2020 – $10.1B (↑ 13%)

Streaming subscribers for the music industry (YoY growth):
1) 2015 – 11M
2) 2016 – 23M (↑ 110%)
3) 2017 – 35M (↑ 56%)
4) 2018 – 47M (↑ 33%)
5) 2019 – 60M (↑ 29%)
6) 2020 – 76M (↑ 25%)

Big question #1: How much time do consumers spend with digital audio?

Quick answer: 94 minutes per day.

Time spent with digital audio (YoY growth) according to eMarketer:
1) 2018 – 74m
2) 2019 – 82m (↑ 11%)
3) 2020 – 89m (↑ 8%)
4) 2021P – 94m (↑ 5%)
5) 2022P – 97m (↑ 4%)

Big question #2: Which music service has the most listeners?

Quick answer: Spotify

Digital music services by monthly listeners (YoY growth) according to eMarketer:
1) Spotify – 87M (↑ 11%)
2) Pandora – 55M (↓ 5%)
3) Amazon Music – 48M (↑ 5%)
4) Apple Music – 37M (↑ 5%)

Spotify paid subscribers (YoY growth):
1) 2017 – 71M
2) 2018 – 96M (↑ 35%)
3) 2019 – 124M (↑ 29%)
4) 2020 – 155M (↑ 25%)

Big news: Spotify announced that they are launching in 80 additional markets, bringing their total to 170+.

Why this matters: The 80 markets represent 1B+ new potential customers!

 

More #1: Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ Hit No. 1 in a Week. Here’s How.

 

More #2: Troy Carter: ‘The music industry has to change the business model; it’s as simple as that.’

 

More #3: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explains how the company plans to help artists (and itself) make money

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.