YouTube
Music trails rival Spotify, Amazon, and Apple but has been gaining ground,
according to market tracker Midia Research. YouTube is a subsidiary of Google.
Midia
analyst Mark Mulligan said in a post that:
“Google’s
YouTube Music has been the standout story of the music subscriber market for
the last couple of years, resonating both in many emerging markets and with
younger audiences across the globe. The early signs are that YouTube Music is
becoming to Gen Z what Spotify was to Millennials half a decade ago.”
Spotify had
32 percent of the global music streaming market in the first quarter of this
year, while Apple Music accounted for 16 percent and Amazon had 13 percent,
according to Midia.
YouTube
Music accounted for eight percent, behind China-based Tencent with its 13
percent share, Midia reported.
“We’re
seeing impressive growth in countries like Korea, India, Japan, Russia and
Brazil where music is a top passion,” YouTube global head of music Lyor Cohen
said in a letter about passing the 50 million subscriber milestone. The unique
offerings of YouTube Music and Premium are resonating in established and
emerging music markets alike.”
The overall
number of streaming music service subscribers climbed more than 19 million to a
total of 487 million in the first quarter of this year, according to Midia.
YouTube
Music was the fastest-growing music streaming service last year, as its ranks
of subscribers grew some 60 percent, said Mulligan.
“We’re in
our own lane, there’s no other place where fans can get uninterrupted access to
the largest and most diverse catalogue of music, artists, and culture,” Cohen
said in the letter. We’re making it easy for music fans to go deep and find
their thing.”
YouTube
said in June that it paid more than $4 billion to the music industry over the
prior 12 months.