33% Of US Net Households Pay To Stream Music: Amazon Prime Music Surges 50% To #1, Spotify #2

A new study reports that a third of all U.S. broadband users now subscribe to a paid steaming music service. with Amazon Prime Music surging 50% in a single year to cement the title of America's most popular paid music streamer.

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Most paid streaming music services experienced an increase in U.S. subscribers in 2016, with Amazon Prime Music jumping 50% in a single year to lead the category with 15% of U.S. broadband households, according to the new report 360 View: Digital Media & Connected Consumers. 

28% of broadband households indicated that they subscribe to Amazon Prime Video, so the number of streaming music subscribers likely reflects actual usage of the streaming music portion of Amazon's service. Amazon also launched Amazon Music Unlimited late last year, an on-demand music streaming service with tens of millions of songs and multiple subscription options.

"Amazon's bundled service model has been a successful strategy in boosting the company's status in multiple content verticals," said Glenn Hower, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates.

Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora & More

Spotify nearly doubled its paid subscriber base in the last year from 4% in 2015 to 7% in 2016. Sirius XM Streaming, Apple Music, and YouTube Music all experienced modest adoption increases during this time, while Pandora and Google Play Music adoption did not change substantially compared to the previous year.

"One-third of U.S. broadband households now subscribe to a paid streaming music service, up from 26% in 2015," Hower said. "Although free ad-supported music services offer convenience and ease-of-listening, consumers have been swayed to pay for services that offer commercial-free listening, on-demand content, and expanded libraries."