Yep. We know what you’re thinking. We got way too high and wrote this article. But we didn’t. New research from Parks Associates shows that, of the 66% of U.S. broadband households that use a licensed service to stream music, 40% are going free/ad-supported, and 26% pay. Of those 26%, Amazon Prime Music is in first place (10%), Pandora One is in second (6%), and Spotify Premium comes in third (at 4%).
According to the study, our own hometown hero (?) Amazon has a big leg up in the streaming wars. Parks Associates isn’t some two-bit research firm, either. It is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services, having served multiple Fortune 500 companies. So what could be the cause of this almost unbelievable surprise? From an EDM perspective, it’s clear from Prime Music’s top dance albums that their bread-and-butter is in mainstream EDM.
Super deep cuts.
Another possible reason could simply be Amazon’s prevalence in peoples’ homes and lives. According to Glenn Hower, a Parks Associates Research Analyst, “Consumers have shown plenty of interest in streaming audio and music services, but most consumers have opted for free accounts. Music service providers have built a model around converting free users into paying customers.” Very few companies can boast the “paying customers” numbers that Amazon can.
Combine that with the important fact that Prime Music comes bundled into a Prime membership, and you have a recipe for 1st place. In short, while products like the Amazon Echo probably play a part in Amazon’s apparent domination over paid music subscriptions, we suspect that it comes down to one word: convenience. So, avid EDM fans, the question becomes—are you an Amazon Prime Music user?
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
