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Nearly half of the world's music consumption happens on YouTube, but the platform dawdles behind competitors

Nearly half of the world's music consumption happens on YouTube, but the platform dawdles behind competitors

According to a report published in Bloomberg, Google's music streaming service YouTube Music isn’t doing all that well compared to its competitors.

YouTube Music and Google Play Music have amassed 15 million subscribers between them, according to sources close to the company.

Those figures dwindle far behind the likes of music service Spotify, which has around 100 million active paying subscribers. Apple Music has around 60 million subscribers for its paid service.

Freemium content

Most people would rather dive into the wide array of free music content on YouTube than pay for a service to listen to music, however, a study conducted by IFPI last year found 47 per cent of all global music consumption happens through YouTube.

YouTube declined to comment on the success of its music services but disclosed that its subscriber count grew by 60 per cent between March 2018 and 2019. 

But recent changes to how YouTube serves up content suggests that its days competing for subscriptions are done. In a recent announcement, the platform said it would be breaking down its premium paywall and no longer locking content behind it. 

It also recently cut back on investment to YouTube TV, hindering plans for the platform to compete against video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.


Staff Writer