Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Two-Thirds of U.S. Homes Stream Audio Over Broadband, With Amazon in a Surprising Lead

Among paid subscription streaming services, Amazon Prime Music leads with 9.76 million U.S. subscribers, or 10 percent of broadband households, followed by Pandora One at 6 percent, Spotify Premium at 4 percent, SiriusXM Streaming at 4 percent, iTunes Match at 2 percent and Google Play Music at 2 percent. All other paid services were at 1 percent or less.

The report draws on surveys of 10,000 U.S. broadband households. The surveys took place prior to the June 30 launch of Apple Music. Parks Associates provided survey respondents with a list of paid music streaming subscription services and asked them to select the services to which they subscribe. Parks Associates didn’t ask about specific free streaming services.

Amazon’s predominance among streaming services, at least in terms of sheer subscriber numbers, highlights the music industry’s struggles in persuading listeners to pay for streaming. “The big question moving forward is if streaming music providers can achieve the scale they have been seeking to balance their ad revenue with paid subscription revenues, all while striking fair licensing agreements with artists,” says Glenn Hower, a research analyst with Parks Associates.

From the article "Two-Thirds of U.S. Homes Stream Audio Over Broadband, With Amazon in a Surprising Lead" by Marc Hogan.

Previously In The News

Is Now the Time to Get a TV Antenna?

Cord cutters are buying antennas to save money by cutting their monthly pay-TV services—and they’re doing it in large numbers. New consumer research from Parks Associates shows that the percentage of...

Fitness Trackers Leave the Wrist Behind

"In 2017 we'll see new form factors emerge to track fitness activities beyond the wrist," says Harry Wang, senior director of research for Parks Associates, a market resesarch and consulting firm. In-...

NAB 2018 Day Two: Online video, trends in sports business, could podcasts create TV content?

“In 2018, the leading services will be competing based on original content, and companies are already shelling out millions on content creation; and that trend will continue,” Brett Sappington, senior...

What’s Old Is New Again

While sales of vinyl records have been rising for a while now (Consumers like the sound quality and like the feel of vinyl records.), 2016 was a banner year. Sales hit a 28-year high -- led by David B...