While the Fair Trade Commission was considering sanctions over Google’s suspicions of linking YouTube Music, Spotify launched an ad-based free music streaming service and the number of users increased rapidly. Domestic music streaming companies such as Melon, Genie Music, and Flo are closely watching the situation. If Spotify’s penetration effect increases, domestic platform companies are also likely to consider similar profit models.
■The number of users increases rapidly due to the ‘free if you listen to advertisements’
According to the industry on the 3rd, Spotify launched the ‘Spotify Free‘ option in Korea on the 10th. Spotify Free is an option that allows you to use all Spotify services by listening to advertisements in audio format. You can even use features such as personalized playlists and podcasts for free. If ads bother you, you can upgrade to a paid version.
The initial response was explosive. According to Mobile Index, the number of new installations of the Spotify app, which was only 3,709 on the 9th of last month, jumped 13.4 times to 49,816 on the 10th. Although it has decreased over time, it still exceeds 10,000 cases and is still more than three times the number before the free service. In fact, the number of new installations in the past month was 498,295, which is 3.5 times more than the previous month (142,873).
The number of monthly active users (MAU) also increased by 56.1% to 1,279,189 last month compared to the previous month (819,703).
The number of users of domestic music streaming sites did not decrease. It is still far behind YouTube Music (7,549,327 people), Melon (7,066,811 people), Genie Music (2,917,375 people), and Flo (2,177,833 people), but Vibe (607,368 people) and Bugs (36 people) The gap with 3,497 people has widened significantly.
■Domestic industry: “We need to see the effect for 3 months”
Domestic music streaming companies are examining the impact on the market. Although Spotify has no presence in Korea, it is the largest music streaming company with the largest market share in the world. There is also talk of the possibility of quickly dominating the domestic market through free services and brand effects.
A domestic industry official said, “After a promotion, the effect often occurs immediately after 3 months. The effect does not seem to be significant right away, but we need to wait and see.” Another industry official said, “Domestic companies tried free advertising-based services 10 years ago, and there was a big response, but there was opposition from copyright holders.” “It’s difficult,” he said. This official added, “Currently, no decision has been made regarding the controversy over YouTube Music bundling,” and added, “Spotify’s influence is not yet significant, but we are watching it closely.”
[email protected] Reporter Koo Ja-yoon
