A Match Made in Heaven - Smart Speakers and Streaming Music Consumption

Music Streaming Market Research, Analysis and Commentary

According to the latest Streaming Music Report from Futuresource Consulting, streaming music subscription uptake continues to exceed expectations, helping fuel continued strong growth in the overall recorded music market. An estimated 50 million+ new streaming subscribers in 2017 pushed the sector to over 175 million total subscribers. Such is the level of growth of these services, they accounted for approximately 50% of the total global music market in 2017.

"A notable driver of the growth in streaming music consumption has been the continued uptake of wireless in-home audio. Owners of these products are far more likely to recognise and enjoy a premium streaming music service when compared to the overall population," commented David Sidebottom, Principal Analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

"Voice activated Smart Speaker technologies and products have reinvigorated the audio sector, creating a wealth of new opportunity and partnership potential between product, technology and platform owners. Key brands have also raised awareness of the potential and ease of use of these products, and in turn stimulated consumer desire for a contemporary and seamless listening experience in the home. We expect this continued impressive growth of wireless in-home audio products to help develop the ecosystem and continue to provide a strong platform for music streaming subscription growth, particularly as more subscribers recognise the benefits of family plans," continued Sidebottom.

This ethos was echoed by Adriaan Thierry, Managing Director of EMEA at Sonos who recently presented at the Futuresource Audio Collaborative conference. Whilst commenting on the new opportunities that voice technology brings to the audio sector, he also stressed the importance of open standards across ecosystems, including platforms and products whilst championing a spirit of collaboration in order to embrace the opportunity and redefine the home listening experience.

The Streaming Music report also provides a clear competitive picture of the music streaming market landscape, providing insight, forecasts and analysis relating to the overall music market in over 15 leading markets worldwide. Its forecast for consumer spend data is broken out into the following sections: Packaged Music; Pay-per-download singles and albums; and Streaming Music Subscriptions.

About the author

David Sidebottom

David is a Principal Analyst – Media and Entertainment. David has over 20 years’ experience in a research and consultancy environment and is closely involved in researching, analysing and consulting on key content industry and consumer technology developments worldwide, with a particular focus on the evolution of digital business models in the TV, video and music industry. David works with a wide variety of high profile Futuresource clients across the content ecosystem including studios, broadcasters, technology companies, hardware vendors, service providers and industry associations. He also directs Futuresource’s long-running global consumer panel ‘Living with Digital’.