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Music has transcended the vinyl album of the past. As technology has continued to improve, we have more options for listening than ever before. While well-known platforms such as SoundCloud and Apple Music may immediately come to mind, there are countless other music streaming apps and platforms with their own unique attributes. In this article, we will go through the top 10 music streaming apps, ranked by number of monthly users.
1. YouTube
- Monthly Users: 1.5 Billion
While most consumers may view YouTube as a video streaming platform, it actually has the most monthly users in terms of streaming music as well. With close to 1.5 billion monthly users streaming music on the platform, YouTube is by far the most popular way to listen to music. YouTube has recently launched a paid version of the platform deemed YouTube Red that allows for an ad-free experience but has not gained much traction with significantly fewer consumers willing to opt for the paid version. YouTube recently created a music geared division of the YouTube brand as well and hopes to transition many of its listeners into paid subscribers in the near future.
2. NetEase
- Monthly Users: 800 million
One of the fastest-growing streaming platforms is NetEase. NetEase is the largest music streaming platform in China and operates a variety of different services in addition to music streaming, such as a web portal, and gaming services. Internet giant Alibaba recently made a large investment in the platform contributing to the growth of the brand. NetEase has been challenged by competition in China such as TenCent over the past few years with both services growing exponentially.
3. Spotify
- Monthly Users: 286 million
Spotify may be the most well-recognized of the music streaming apps brands as demonstrated through its monthly user data. Spotify is unique from other giants such as YouTube and SoundCloud as a large number of their users (roughly 130 million) purchase the premium version of the platform which does not play ads. As time passes Spotify will no doubt look to increase that ratio beyond 45% to increase revenue.
4. SoundCloud
- Monthly Users: 175 million
SoundCloud was launched roughly 12 years ago and has quickly become one of the most used streaming platforms in the world. SoundCloud is based out of Berlin and recently gave way to Spotify in terms of monthly active users. With 175 million monthly users globally, SoundCloud is still one of the main players in the music streaming industry.
5. Gaana
- Monthly Users: 150 million
Gaana arrived on the music streaming apps scene in 2010 as a project by Times Internet. They quickly gained traction and are currently the largest music streaming platform in India. Gaana has a lot of potential to continue to grow, as India is one of the largest markets in the world. Gaana projects they will have at least 600 million users and 40 million paid users by 2023. They hope to build off their past success and continue to penetrate the Indian market to the point where they can become operationally profitable in the near future.
6. iHeartRadio
- Monthly Users: 128 million
Traditional radio used to be the only means to listen to music in the car, but with the rise of music streaming consumers now have their own playlists at the tip of their finger. Streaming platforms have leached users off of local radio stations for years, iHeartRadio looks to combine these two and create a unique offering for listeners. iHeartRadio has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in the streaming industry. Interestingly enough, even though Amazon has its own streaming platform. iHeartRadio users listen more through Alexa than any other device.
7. Pandora
- Monthly Users: 63.1 million
Pandora used to claim the top spot in terms of listeners, but other music streaming apps have poached users for years as competition has increased. Pandora paved the way for other platforms to enter the scene, and familiarized many households with the concept of streaming music from a mobile device. While their original success was impressive, their monthly user count continues to dwindle as competition has become fierce in recent years.
8. Apple Music
- Monthly Users: 60 million
Apple Music has quickly become one of the key players in the streaming industry. Apple Music has nowhere near the same ceiling as other platforms (Spotify, Pandora, etc) in terms of users due to their strategic choice to only offer a paid version of the platform. This leads to all users getting the same high quality, ad-free experience through Apple Music.
9. Amazon Music Unlimited
- Monthly Users: 55 million
Just a few years ago the average consumer never viewed Amazon as a player in the music streaming wars. Now Amazon is one of the largest streaming platforms in the world and has aggressively added new listeners through their prime related promotions. More Americans now have a Prime account than a landline in their home, so look to Amazon to continually build off their well-established brand.
10. Anghami
- Monthly Users: 21 million
Anghami was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Lebanon. This was the first legal music streaming apps Arabic consumers had access to and quickly grew in popularity. They have a strategy of providing consumers with music, in addition to a large library of music videos that can be downloaded and played offline.
Here is a list of up and coming music streaming platforms to keep your eyes on too:
| Streaming Platform | Active Users |
|---|---|
| Deezer | 14 million |
| Tidal | 3 million |
| LiveXLive | 1.2 million |
