Apple Music is the second most used music streaming service behind Spotify

According to a report from Midia Research, Apple Music accounts for 15% of the global music streaming market, still falling behind streaming giant Spotify, which holds 31%. Amazon Music and Tencent Music each take a 13% market share, while YouTube Music accounts for 8% of global subscriptions.

Spotify remains the DSP with the highest market share (31%), but this was down from 33% in Q2 2020 and 34% in Q2 2019. With Apple Music being a distant second with 15% market share, and Spotify adding more subscribers in the 12 months leading up to Q2 2021 than any other single DSP, there is no risk of Spotify losing its leading position anytime soon – but the erosion of its share is steady and persistent.

However, Amazon Music once again surpassed Spotify in terms of growth (25% . 20%, respectively) and YouTube Music took the first place for the second consecutive year, recording a growth of more than 50%. YouTube Music was the only one to increase its global share during this period, thanks to Gen Z and the Millennials.

Google was once the laggard of the space, but the launch of YouTube Music has transformed its fortunes, growing by more than 50% in the 12 months leading up to Q2 2021. YouTube Music was the only Western DSP to increase global market share during this the period. YouTube Music particularly resonates among Gen Z and younger Millennials, which should have alarm bells ringing for Spotify, as their core base of Millennial subscribers from the 2010s in the West are now beginning to age.

According to Midia Research, the global market for streaming music grew by 109.5 million by the end of the second quarter of 2021 and the total number of subscribers reached almost 524 million listeners.