It is about six years since YouTube launched its own music streaming service , enough time to wonder how many paying users does YouTube Music, the alternative to Spotify, already have? A notice came in June from Lyor Cohen, global director of the video platform’s Music division, pointing to the “fastest growth in subscription services on the market.”
Three months later, Cohen’s warnings already have a figure, and Spotify has reason to be vigilant, as YouTube has announced that it has surpassed 50 million YouTube Music and Premium subscribers . Although this data includes users who are enjoying the trial period, and possibly not all end up subscribing once it ends, the growth compared to the previous year is remarkable.
The latest statistical reference dates back to October 2020, when Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, pointed out that YouTube Music and YouTube Premium services were around 30 million subscribers (YouTube Music can be purchased in a separate subscription or as part of one of YouTube Premium). In less than 12 months, YouTube has managed to add 20 million new users, a year-on-year growth of 66% .
The expansion of YouTube Music is driven by growth in countries such as Korea of the South, India, Japan, Russia and Brazil , according desgrana Lyor Cohen in his statement, while adding that ” are investing in new features and exclusive benefits for members ” of the platform. In other words, ” we’re not going to take our foot off the gas for a while, ” Cohen said.
SPOTIFY, APPLE, AMAZON: THE SITUATION OF THE COMPETITORS
Faced with these staggering numbers, its main rivals in this sector, Spotify and Apple Music , may see their positions threatened sooner rather than later. In the case of Spotify, the advantage is still considerable, since at the end of the second quarter it had 165 million subscribers, more than triple that of YouTube Music, but its year-on-year growth is 20%, an indicator that reveals that it is beginning to cut back. ground.
As for Apple Music , the last existing reference on its number of subscribers dates back to June 2019 , when Tim Cook’s company announced that it had exceeded the barrier of 60 million subscribers. More than two years later, Apple has only communicated through Luca Maestri, its financial director, that it has more than 660 million subscribers among all its services, which also include Apple TV +, Apple Fitness + and several others, so there is no shelled data that allow comparison.
Behind is Amazon Music , which is also growing its subscriber base, but is still behind Apple Music and is very likely to be overtaken by YouTube Music imminently considering its current boom.
The music industry is the major beneficiary of this increase in YouTube Music subscribers, as the Alphabet video platform has brought in more than 3 billion euros in the last year thanks to advertising and subscription income. YouTube’s immediate goal from now on is to exceed the figure provided by Spotify, which in 2020 exceeded $ 4 billion.
Forced to move, Spotify is already trying to react, and with that objective it launched a subscription called Plus aimed at a limited number of users, with a price of 0.99 euros per month. The cheapest plan currently costs 9.99 euros, although all users receive a three-month free trial offer before having to pay any amount. It remains to be seen if this new subscription (allows unlimited skips of songs but does not remove advertising) helps to keep setting the pace in an increasingly competitive sector.