50,000 installations on the first day of launch… Ranked 1st in number of installations for 3 consecutive days
If music is removed from YouTube Premium, there is a possibility that users will leave.
(Seoul = News 1) Reporter Shin Eun-bin = When Spotify, the world’s No. 1 music streaming platform, launched a free music streaming service in Korea, the number of new application installations increased 12-fold. Attention is being paid to whether the launch of the service will lead to a mass exodus of users from domestic music platforms.
Spotify announced on the 16th that it signed a contract with the Korea Music Copyright Association and launched the free music streaming membership ‘Spotify Free‘ in Korea on the 10th of this month.
It has been about four years since entering the Korean market in 2021.
According to a survey by the app analysis service Mobile Index, the number of new Spotify app installations on the 10th, the launch date of the service, was 49,816, more than 12 times more than the previous day (3,709).
From this day to the 12th, Spotify ranked first in the number of new app installations in the ‘Music’ category, beating YouTube Music and Melon for three consecutive days.
Free streaming services allow you to listen to music without paying, but ads are inserted approximately every 15 minutes. A 30-90 second advertisement is played for every 2-5 songs. Because the playlist is automatically created, you cannot select the songs you want.
Instead, it provides a playlist tailored to the user’s taste based on the singer selected. If you sign up for a free optional account on the website, you can listen to playlists on a variety of topics, podcasts, and foreign music to your heart’s content.
A Spotify official explained the launch of this service, saying, “We want to increase accessibility to the music market by connecting more listeners and creators.”
The fact that, unlike overseas, Korea does not provide a free streaming service was cited as one of the reasons for Spotify’s low domestic market share. This is because price competitiveness is low.
Spotify subscription fee is 10,900 won (VAT excluded) per month for premium individuals. It is not much different from YouTube Music, which can be used without additional charge by subscribing to YouTube Premium (14,900 won per month).
According to the Mobile Index, YouTube Music (7,533,239) ranked first in terms of monthly active users (MAU) among domestic music platforms last month. Spotify ranked 6th with 819,703 users, behind domestic platforms such as Melon and Genie Music.
As Spotify launches a free streaming service, there are expectations that it will be able to take some of YouTube Music’s domestic market share.
Recently, YouTube Music was suspected of unfair practices by the Fair Trade Commission by selling music services bundled with premium products. If YouTube launches a separate premium product excluding YouTube Music, there is a possibility that music service users will switch to Spotify Free.
An industry insider said, “If a cheaper YouTube Premium product is released, there is a high possibility that people will use Spotify instead of subscribing to Premium, which includes YouTube Music. Spotify will be competitive as it allows users to enjoy a lot of music from around the world.” .
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