Apple Music And Spotify Push Us Paid Streaming Music Subscriptions To 51M Total

Apple Music and Spotify have pushed total US paid streaming music subscribers to 51M, a number that has almost doubled since the end of 2016.

Streaming music now generates 65% of all music industry revenue in the US, according to the latest data …

MusicWatch shared some of its data with Billboard, which noted that those 51M paid subscribers are supplemented by a further 20M users sharing a paid account (for example, Apple Music’s family plan), and a further 29M on free trials or bundled deals.

Unsurprisingly, Apple Music and Spotify between them account for at least 80% of the paid market, with more than 20M US subscribers each, Pandora’s 6M+ subscribers putting it in third place.

There’s an unsurprising correlation between income and paid streaming subscriptions, but that tails off when it comes to those aged 45 and up.

Interestingly, MusicWatch found that despite Apple’s promotion of its human-curated playlists, these aren’t a key draw for many subscribers.

Paid streamers are also more than twice as likely to own a smart speaker, but also more likely to own older music tech.

Apple Music this month started rolling out its own top charts.