MIDiA Research report: Music streaming services had 487 million subscribers globally at the end of Q1 2021

By Emmanuel Legrand

Close to half a billion people were subscribing to a music streaming service at the end of Q1 2021, according to figures unveiled by MIDiAResearch. 

  At the end of 2020, there were 467 million subscribers globally, 100 million more than a year before, and a further 19.5 million new subscribers were added in Q1 2021, bringing the total number to 487 million. Spotify accounted for 32% of the total, followed by Apple Music (16%), Amazon Music (13%), Tencent (13%), Google (8%), NetEase (4%), Deezer (2%), Yandex (2%) and Pandora (1%).  

  MIDiA Research's Mark Mulligan noted that Spotify continued its global dominance, adding 27 million net subscribers between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, more than any other single service. 

Google was the fastest-growing service

  "However," added Mulligan, "it lost two points of market share over the period because its percentage growth rate trailed that of its leading competitors. Google was the fastest-growing music streaming service in 2020, growing by 60%, with Tencent second on 40%. Amazon continued its steady trajectory, up 27%, while Apple grew by just 12%."

  He described Google’sYouTube Music as "the standout story of the music subscriber market for the last couple of years," attracting a younger audience than other services across the globe, and "becoming to Gen Z what Spotify was to Millennials half a decade ago."

  While the markets in North America and Europe are maturing and showing slower growth rates, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Rest of World accounted for 60% of all 2020 subscriber growth.