New research from Comscore shows that we’re creatures of habit when it comes to our music preferences, specifically in how we stream.
The research breaks down how little user crossover there is between major streaming services. Looking at US figures from June 2019, only 14.3 million visitors used both Apple Music and Spotify. This sounds like a big number, but it actually only represents 7% of the total US music app audience.
Related: Apple Music vs Spotify
Why are we such loyalists? Well, Comscore reckons it’s mainly to do with the useful customisation features offered by individual services. These allow users to curate lists, get special recommendations, and generally have a buffed-up music experience.
Sadly, you can’t easily migrate this stuff over to a new service. So your break-up playlist from your teen years will forever be restricted to one place. Maybe that’s a good thing.
This also means that you’re less likely to have multiple accounts, as that would mean putting in twice the effort to fine-tune your listening experience.
Related: Spotify reckons it can create your perfect road trip playlist
Another piece of interesting data from the research shows that paying subscribers listen to more music than non-paying account holders, streaming tunes for an additional 45 minutes per month on average. This probably isn’t surprising, but it might mean that paying music fans are less likely to switch services than non-paying listeners, as they’re investing even more time in their experience.
This could spell trouble for big players in the streaming world, who are vying to steal paying listeners away from their rivals. It also makes it even harder for new indie services to emerge and battle the established names – unless someone comes up with a clever way to migrate that listener history across.
The data also showed how listening has gone mobile, with most users preferring to listen through a dedicated app rather than through a web or desktop player.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
