According to the most recently available data, the average amount of time spent listening to Spotify by the platform’s active users was 25 hours per month. The idea of spending more than an entire day per month streaming Spotify content might sound unbelievable, but internet usage is higher than ever and vastly supersedes time spent with radio, print media and even television. Streaming has become one of the most popular media activities in the world, and Spotify is the global market leader when it comes to digital music streaming.

Spotify and the music market

Spotify dominates the global music streaming market and offers artists serious amounts of exposure, with some musicians garnering audiences of several million each month. The company’s user base has increased dramatically, even in the face of antitrust complaints and competition from Apple Music, as well as users expressing concern over how little Spotify pays its artists.

In 2018, music streaming revenue amounted to 8.9 billion U.S. dollars worldwide, more than six times the figure recorded for 2013. Whilst revenue growth has slowed, this is not the case when it comes to subscriber numbers, which in Spotify’s case have been increasing at a quarterly rate. Spotify reported 96 million premium subscribers worldwide at the end of 2018, finishing the year with a flourish after regular growth and accumulating 25 million more paid users in just twelve months.

The company also commands more than 30 percent of music streaming subscribers worldwide, outperforming both Apple Music and Amazon.