Among paid subscription streaming services, Amazon Prime Music leads with 9.76 million U.S. subscribers, or 10 percent of broadband households, followed by Pandora One at 6 percent, Spotify Premium at 4 percent, SiriusXM Streaming at 4 percent, iTunes Match at 2 percent and Google Play Music at 2 percent. All other paid services were at 1 percent or less.
The report draws on surveys of 10,000 U.S. broadband households. The surveys took place prior to the June 30 launch of Apple Music. Parks Associates provided survey respondents with a list of paid music streaming subscription services and asked them to select the services to which they subscribe. Parks Associates didn’t ask about specific free streaming services.
Amazon’s predominance among streaming services, at least in terms of sheer subscriber numbers, highlights the music industry’s struggles in persuading listeners to pay for streaming. “The big question moving forward is if streaming music providers can achieve the scale they have been seeking to balance their ad revenue with paid subscription revenues, all while striking fair licensing agreements with artists,” says Glenn Hower, a research analyst with Parks Associates.
From the article "Two-Thirds of U.S. Homes Stream Audio Over Broadband, With Amazon in a Surprising Lead" by Marc Hogan.
