YouTube Music’s now the fastest growing music platform
Image credit: Alvaro Reyes
YouTube Music has dethroned the competition, emerging as the most rapidly adopted music streaming service of the past year.
YouTube Music is experiencing a meteoric rise, solidifying its position as the music industry’s fastest-growing streaming platform. The platform has seen unprecedented growth in the past year, outpacing its competitors to claim the top spot.
That’s according to the latest insights from Kantar, which reveal YouTube Music was the most adopted music streaming service in Q2 2024. The service surprisingly surpassed the growth rate of Spotify, although Spotify maintained steady growth of 2% year-on-year.
Kantar’s Global Strategic Insight Director, Craig Armer writes: “As YouTube Music leads in adoption and Spotify continues its growth, the ability to amplify the right relevant content personalised for younger or older listeners will be key. Younger audiences show a greater interest in the recommendations the service algorithms generate, whilst older audiences utilise pre-made playlists.”
This is based on the data for Great Britain, the U.S.A., Australia, Germany, Spain, and France between April and June 2024. Kantar reveal that the quarter saw a significant rise in music service adoption, but make it clear that there are still many non-streamers that services can tap.
They reveal that 85% of people who don’t currently stream music express interest in it. What’s the biggest thing preventing people from signing up to a music streaming service? Kantar reveal that 42% don’t want to pay a regular fee, reflecting that value for money is the biggest driver behind new premium subscriptions across all demographics.
Only Gen Z have a higher priority based on their community. They found that the most important factor for Gen Z is using the same streaming platform that their friends use. They are also more likely to be subscribed to music services, with 51% of Gen Z in Great Britain subscribing to a premium subscription. Meanwhile, in the US only a third of the over 55s are subscribed.
Kantar describes how free trials are the number one influencing factor for bringing in new Premium subscribers. This helps to make the first impression, after which the service speaks for itself.
Armer adds: “Satisfaction, as measured through likeliness to recommend the service by users, is continuously high for premium services, seemingly unaffected by price rises over the last year. For example, half of Spotify’s premium subscribers are likely to recommend the service to friends and family. This indicates that once a service can persuade non-users that their offer is worth paying for, they can be converted into satisfied subscribers.”