Pandora, Google Play Flat for 2016, But Amazon, Apple, Spotify Gained, Says Parks

A third of U.S. broadband households subscribe to a paid streaming music service, up from 26 percent in 2015, said a Wednesday Parks Associates report. Most paid streaming music services had growth in 2016, and Amazon Prime Music led the market with 15 percent penetration in U.S. broadband households. Amazon Prime Music experienced a 50 percent subscription bounce for the period, and it late last year bowed Amazon Music Unlimited, its on-demand music streaming service with multiple subscription options. Spotify nearly doubled its subscriber base from 4 percent to 7 percent of households for 2016, and SiriusXM Streaming, Apple Music and YouTube all had modest adoption growth during the year, said Parks. Pandora and Google Play Music “did not change substantially” vs. 2015, it said. Free, ad-supported music services offer convenience and value, but consumers have been swayed to pay for services that offer commercial-free listening, on-demand content and expanded libraries, said Parks analyst Glenn Hower. Other findings: 58 percent of U.S. broadband households stream music or audio outside the home, and they stream 3.6 hours of music or audio weekly on computers, 2.7 hours on smartphones, said Parks.