Spotify: Usage Statistics, Success Stories, and USPs in 2022

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Online media streaming platforms had started to gain recognition amongst users in the past decade. This trend was further intensified ever since the rise of the stay-at-home economy induced by the Covid19 pandemic. And, this trend is here to stay! In this post, we will discuss some important facts and stats revolving around Spotify, one of the most trending platforms of modern times that indicate the bright future of media streaming apps.

Spotify is the popular international music streaming platform that enables one to listen to, access as well as download millions of songs on all kinds of devices. Its prime objective is to provide universally accessible content and prevent individuals from downloading music illegally. Let’s peek through the unique offerings, success stories, and interesting facts about the journey of the Spotify app! A quick read will be immensely beneficial to entrepreneurs planning to invest in on-demand media streaming app development.

Spotify: Offerings

Spotify is a Sweden-based provider offering media/audio streaming services. It boasts of having more than 381 million active users per month. The users of this leading music streaming platform enjoy instant access to its humongous library comprising of podcasts and music; and can listen to any piece of music as per their liking, at any time. What’s more?

• The podcasts and music offered by Spotify are digital copyright restricted.
• The service is available on most modern-era devices – Android and iOS smartphones/tablets, macOS/Linux computers, Windows, digital media players like Roku, and AI-empowered smart speakers like Google Home, Amazon Echo, etc.
• Users can search for music as per their preferred artist, album, genre and are able to create, edit, as well as share playlists.
• Users have the flexibility to pick from over seventy million songs from diverse musical genres including classical, pop, obscure indie rock, and movie soundtracks; rendered by a huge variety of artists.
• There’s a complex algorithm that provides music recommendations based on the listening history of users, access to internet radio stations, and curated playlists.
• A wide range of podcast content is available and so it is equally appealing for users who love listening to technical discussions, real crime stories, etc.
• Users can find friends and follow artists or friends using the in-app “find friend” option.
• Lately, Spotify has introduced the unique feature “Cosmic Playlists” –users can enjoy the theme and tone of music based on their astrological signs.

Spotify: Business Models

Spotify offers an ad-included free version as well as a premium version.

Free Version

The freemium service comes with basic features and limited user control. Free users can access the content by signing up through an email ID or simply by connecting with Facebook. In this case, the Spotify app’s monetization strategies include audio advertising, the selling of video, display, playing ads while media streaming, etc.

Premium Model

The paid version is quite reasonable and offers extra features like top-quality tracks, offline listening, ad-free streaming, and many more. The Premium plan is further categorized into three different plans based on the needs of diverse groups of the target audience.

• Standard Plan: Users can access the whole catalog of podcasts, songs, as well as audiobooks, even from an overseas location.
• Student Plan: This subscription model is available for students who have enrolled in some college or university and is cheaper as compared to the standard premium subscription, despite providing the same set of features. The subscription lasts for a whole year at one go, with a four-year limit altogether.
• Family Plan: This plan offers access to up to six individuals who reside together. Users can also exercise parental control over inappropriate pieces of music for any specific family member.

Spotify’s eventful Journey

The concept of Spotify was coined by Martin Lorentzon and Daniel Ek in 2006.  Back then, Spotify was available across 6 European countries, and by 2011, it had reached the American market.

In February 2009, it opened public registration in the UK, for its free service tier. With the launch of Spotify’s mobile service, registrations sky-rocketed and this led to a temporary hold on its free service – an invitation-only policy was adopted.

While its US launch in 2011, the policy changed. A free trial was offered to users for six months and during this period users were entitled to listen to ad-included unlimited streaming. After the expiry of this free trial period, users were limited to listening to ten hours of streaming per month and five replays for each song. These limitations applicable for the free version were later dropped.

One of the most significant USPs of Spotify: AI and ML integration

The integration of avant-garde technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence is one of the most significant USPs of Spotify. This is because the collected data greatly influences Spotify’s decision-making process. The gathered information navigates algorithms and plays a crucial role in improving the UX.

For this reason, Spotify is able to recommend user tracks that users may not have heard before, but those tracks are based on the songs they have listened to earlier and are most likely to be interested in. Furthermore, ML improves user recommendations with time resulting in user retention and loyalty.

Interesting Stats defining Spotify’s Success Story

• 50% of the Spotify app users were premium subscribers in 2021- Spotify has 365 million users per month in 2021; and out of them, 165 million users were signed up for the paid version.
• Spotify’s market share as in 2021 was 32% of the online music streaming market which is quite ahead of Apple music’s share (25% of the market share)
• Spotify has launched a new version Spotify Lite app that requires only 10 MB of space for installation. Spotify Lite has made its mark in 37 countries across the globe, including India, and boasts of more than 10 million users.
• 55% of users have used their Facebook accounts to register for Spotify. This indicates that modern users prefer the hassle-free option of social media integration rather than creating a distinct account.
• 7% OF Spotify users hail from the US
• 29%/one-fourth of the users are millennials – individuals across all categories enjoy Spotify’s music streaming service.
• Despite the streaming service being available on a wide range of platforms, 52% of the audience use their smartphones for accessing Spotify while 10% of the users use their tablets.
• Users tune in to Spotify for 148 minutes daily on an average.
• Users listen to 41 different artists per week and this indicates that the entertainment platform serves as a high discoverable option for artists and also enables them to a wider range of audience effortlessly.
• Spotify offers a unique feature – allows users to upload media tracks from their personal devices. As a result, it has been observed that 60,000+ songs are added daily on this platform.
• The Spotify playlists are categorized into three parts – personalized, UGC, and curated playlists. And, 17% of the playlists accessed by users are personalized.
• Spotify has generated a revenue of over 2.5 billion euros. This figure is much more as compared to the revenue generated during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal period that was 0.6 billion.

The Future of Media Streaming Apps

Today, popular media streaming apps have come a long way to deliver a blended approach comprising entertainment as well as wisdom and creativity that is highly intriguing and appealing to the audience.

Industry veterans have predicted that with the advent of high-speed internet via the 5G technology, media consumption is going to rise. Moreover, media streaming platforms will become more affordable in the coming days leading to more consumers.

Therefore, the media streaming apps and platforms have to keep their services updated to match the newest trends and fulfill the needs of modern-day consumers, specifically their desire for customized content.

Final Verdict:

The facts and stats about the Spotify app clearly indicate the developmental requirement of tailoring on-demand apps like Spotify. If you are looking for experienced on-demand app development services, contact Biz4Solutions, a leading firm offering high-end offshore software development services to the global clientele.

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