Reports: Subscriptions

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Cover image for Breaking saturation

Breaking saturation
Music streaming pricing strategy

Tatiana Cirisano and Perry Gresham

8 Apr 2025

Labels Subscriptions Streaming

Nearly two decades into the streaming era, established subscription markets like the US are approaching saturation. While growth pockets for standard subscriptions remain, the next stage is about raising average revenue per user through both price increases and user segmentation.

Cover image for The audio creator opportunity

The audio creator opportunity
Audio creator behaviours and monetisation potential

Rutger Rosenborg

14 Mar 2025

Creators Subscriptions Spotify

Historically, YouTubers and TikTok influencers have received the lion’s share of mainstream attention as a creator class – but audio creators are increasingly active on the same digital platforms and operating within the same formats. As a result, the audio creator has become a jack of all trades, moving between copyediting, audio editing, and ...

Cover image for Socioeconomics of podcast listening

Socioeconomics of podcast listening
Engaging a higher value audience

Rutger Rosenborg

11 Oct 2024

Creators Subscriptions Radio

Podcasts alone will struggle to monetise via subscriptions, leaving advertising as podcasts’ key source of revenue for the foreseeable future. However, podcasts do attract high-earning, high-spending audiences, which are often hard to reach with conventional advertising.

Cover image for Bridging the creator gap

Bridging the creator gap
Monetising social video’s micro-communities

Samuel Griffin and Ben Woods

3 Apr 2023

Subscriptions YouTube Twitch

The pandemic-induced boom in content creation has saturated social video platforms at a time when creators are battling a downturn in digital advertising revenues. These dual pressures of less exposure and dwindling financial returns have put pressure on mid-tier creators; the community that derives all their creator income from advertising, subscr...

Cover image for Attention recession impacts on D2C growth

Attention recession impacts on D2C growth

Richard Broadhurst

26 Jul 2022

Subscriptions Streaming Spotify

Weekly active user (WAU) penetration for the top streaming services is now slowing with quarter-on-quarter growth effectively flat for the leading subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. Peak attention is now clearly here for video. The looming attention recession, which is already impacting the wider digital entertainment landscape, will exa...

Cover image for Music market subscriber shares 2021

Music market subscriber shares 2021
Growth is not letting up yet

Mark Mulligan

22 Dec 2021

Subscriptions Streaming Music Subscriptions

This report presents key figures from MIDiA’s global music subscriber market shares model. The full dataset is published alongside this report, with quarterly data (from Q4 2015 to Q1 2021) and annual label trade revenue (from FY 2015 to FY 2020) for more than 20 streaming services across 34 different markets.

Cover image for Unlocking mainstream AVOD

Unlocking mainstream AVOD
The silver streamer catalyst

Tim Mulligan

31 Jul 2021

Subscriptions Streaming Amazon

Ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) has been championed as the free-to-access equivalent of subscription video on demand (SVOD). However, for AVOD to become the digital successor to free-to-view TV it needs to break out of its current niche user base.

Cover image for Spotify Q4 2020 earnings

Spotify Q4 2020 earnings
ARPU pays the price for growth

Mark Mulligan

28 Feb 2021

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

In 2020 Spotify accelerated the growth of its total user base, with emerging markets playing a key role. However, revenue increases became decoupled from user growth across all categories, resulting in ARPU deflation. Companies and brands mentioned in...

Cover image for Spotify Q3 2020 Earnings

Spotify Q3 2020 Earnings
The Shift to Free

Mark Mulligan

27 Nov 2020

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

With three quarters of 2020 gone, Spotify has prospered during the most challenging of times, with consistent growth across most metrics. Q3 2020 saw a slight deviation from the script though, with ad-supported in the driving seat, especially in emerging markets.

Cover image for Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0

Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0
Subscriptions Decouple from Revenue

Mark Mulligan

18 Sep 2020

Subscriptions Streaming Music Subscriptions

This report presents key figures from MIDiA’s global music subscriber market shares model. The full dataset is published alongside this report with quarterly data from Q4 2015 to Q1 2020 and annual label trade revenue from full year 2015 to full year 2019 for 27 streaming services across 34 different markets.

Cover image for Spotify Q2 2020 Earnings

Spotify Q2 2020 Earnings
In the Shadow of COVID

Mark Mulligan

18 Aug 2020

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

Spotify’s share price grew strongly in June 2020, with the markets responding positively to its podcast investments. However, while that increase was sustained throughout July, by mid-August the share price was heading back down to late-June levels.

Cover image for COVID-19 and the Vulnerability of Pure Play Sports Streaming Services

COVID-19 and the Vulnerability of Pure Play Sports Streaming Services

Alistair Taylor

23 Apr 2020

Subscriptions US UK

The postponement of annual competitions and major quadrennial events has highlighted just how heavily pay-TV and sport-centric streaming services’ value propositions rely on live sports. Filling schedules with re-runs, docuseries, interviews and archived footage are stopgaps unlikely to increase engagement.

Cover image for Ad Receptiveness Consumer Survey

Ad Receptiveness Consumer Survey
Country Snapshots

Mark Mulligan

23 Mar 2020

Subscriptions Marketing Music streaming

Ad receptiveness consumer snapshots for US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden, France, Netherlands, and Italy.

Cover image for Video Consumer Survey

Video Consumer Survey
Country Snapshots

Tim Mulligan

23 Mar 2020

Consumer behaviour Subscriptions Video

Video consumer survey country snapshots for US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden, France, Italy, Netherlands and Mexico.

Cover image for Spotify Q4 2019 Earnings

Spotify Q4 2019 Earnings
Great Year for Premium, Less So for Ad Supported

Mark Mulligan

29 Feb 2020

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

2019 was another strong year for Spotify’s premium business, in which it saw off growing competition to retain its leading global market share. But it was also another year in which Spotify’s ad-supported business did not grow fast enough. Companies...

Cover image for Music Subscriber Market Shares 3.0

Music Subscriber Market Shares 3.0
The Big Three Dominate

Mark Mulligan

17 Dec 2019

Subscriptions Streaming Music Subscriptions

This report presents key figures from MIDiA’s global music subscriber market shares model. The full dataset is published alongside this report with quarterly data from Q4 2015 to Q2 2019 for 23 streaming services across 30 different markets. Companies...

Cover image for Spotify Earnings Q3 2019

Spotify Earnings Q3 2019
Up on Most Counts

Mark Mulligan

15 Nov 2019

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

Q3 2019 was a quarter of mixed fortunes for Spotify, with its subscriber base showing good, consistent growth, podcasts making a solid early showing, emerging markets demonstrating promise but ad revenue falling short. Companies and brands mentioned in...

Cover image for Sports Rights

Sports Rights
Measuring the ROI for Streaming

Alistair Taylor

30 Oct 2019

Subscriptions Amazon subscribers

Measuring streaming sports audience engagement is paramount when determining which rights mix consumers are actually willing to pay for. Netflix has shown that in a saturated market, retaining consumer attention can cost twice as much as it did previously to retain the same level of user engagement.

Cover image for Spotify Q2 2019 Earnings

Spotify Q2 2019 Earnings
Mature Markets Still the Engine Room of Growth

Mark Mulligan

29 Aug 2019

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

Q2 2019 was another solid quarter for Spotify, adding the same number of subscribers it typically does in promotional quarters. Core metrics such as churn and average revenue per user (ARPU) all moved in the right direction, but Spotify remains out of contract with two major label partners and needs emerging markets’ subscriber growth to start pi...

Cover image for Spotify Q1 2019 Earnings

Spotify Q1 2019 Earnings

Mark Mulligan

31 May 2019

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

Q1 2019 was a quarter of milestones for Spotify, hitting 100 million subscribers, launching in India and becoming a podcast company. However, it was also a quarter in which a number of metrics started to soften. With the exception of ad revenue, none of these subtle shifts are enough on their own to provoke any serious concern.

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