Consumer Intelligence Research Partners this afternoon shared analysis comparing data collected from Spotify subscribers in the United States and Spotify subscribers globally, finding some notable differences in habits between the two.

Spotify has a lower percentage of Spotify Premium subscribers in the United States compared to the global share, according to CIRP, which CIRP attributes to the competitive U.S. market that offers many different services from Apple, Google, Amazon, and others.

spotify logo
In the United States, 35 percent of Spotify users have signed up for a premium subscription, while the other 65 percent listen to the company's free tier or were previously Spotify Premium subscribers.

Of premium subscribers in the U.S., 55 percent have individual accounts, 24 percent use a family plan, 12 percent have student subscriptions, and 9 percent have a subscription that combines access to Spotify Premium and Hulu.

spotifycirpstats

"In our first survey of Spotify users, we can see differences between the US and the rest of the world," said Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "In the US, a somewhat lower percentage of listeners have Spotify Premium compared to the global share.

The US is a competitive market, with a number of options for both free and paid streaming music. And, among these Premium subscribers, over half have the standard Individual membership, while one-quarter have the broader Family Plan, which offers multiple individual accounts for a single higher monthly fee. A significant percentage of Spotify customers have chosen these alternative subscription options."

During the second quarter of 2018, which is when the data was collected, 11 percent of ad-supported Spotify listeners started a trial Premium subscription, while 74 percent of subscribers continued with a paid Premium subscription when a trial ended.

16 percent of Premium subscribers ended a subscription and reverted to the free listening tier or stopped using Spotify all together, a churn rate that CIRP says is higher than Spotify's global churn rate.

"Spotify's financial success depends on creating a robust funnel of users, converting casual listeners that download the app to long-term paid Premium subscribers," said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "Spotify encourages free Ad-Supported listeners to begin a free or nearly-free trial of a Premium subscription, typically of seven or thirty days. It then seeks to convert that trial to some form of paid Premium, with users paying for the service monthly. The monthly payment plan does allow Premium subscribers to cancel at any time, a situation that Spotify calls 'churn'.

We estimate a US churn rate of 16% for the quarter, higher than what Spotify suggests is the global rate. Again, we attribute this to a competitive US market, with many choices for paid and free streaming music services."

While Spotify and Apple Music both operate in multiple countries around the world, Apple Music has been gaining popularity rapidly in the United States since its 2015 launch.

In early July, an anonymous source from a major U.S.-based distributor told Digital Music News that Apple Music has surpassed Spotify's subscriber count in the United States, something The Wall Street Journal accurately predicted would happen this summer given the subscriber growth rates of the two companies.

Both Apple Music and Spotify are said to have more than 20 million subscribers in the United States, with Apple "a hair ahead" of Spotify. Spotify and Apple Music do not break down their subscriber counts by country, so there's no official confirmation.

Spotify in May announced that it has a total of 75 million paid subscribers worldwide, and Apple during the same month said that it has 50 million paid subscribers and free trial users around the globe. Spotify's total user base continues to be much larger -- 170 million active users - due to the free ad-supported tier that Spotify offers.

Customers in the United States have a lot of choice when it comes to streaming music services. Along with Apple Music and Spotify, Pandora Radio, SoundCloud, Google Play Music, Amazon Music and others offer subscription options.

CIRP's Spotify data for its report was gathered from surveys of 500 U.S. participants who used Spotify from April to June 2018.

Top Rated Comments

haruhiko Avatar
70 months ago
Spotify's app is much better than Apple Music.
It also has much better music suggestions and localised content.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RudySnow Avatar
70 months ago
Is anyone really surprised here? Apple pre-installs AM on every single device they sell, so naturally they will jump to the lead fairly quickly. I actually expect the number to grow when/if Apple joins their content services (specifically Texture offerings), although I know how much MacRumors readers will hate that idea. And, for ME, I am one of the ones who prefers AM over Spotify as I can integrate all of my stored music without worrying about porting them to Spotify and not finding suitable matches.

Flame me. I can take it! :)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
70 months ago
It will be a sad day when Apple puts Spotify out of business by their heavy handed tactics.
I dunno. Spotify might put themselves out of business by their own terrible business tactics.

Think about it. They got the first-mover advantage and they amassed tons of users. Seems great, right?

But as Spotify adds more users... they actually lose more money. So every new customer costs them money.

Oh I hear what you're saying. Apple is the first credible threat to Spotify.

But Spotify has been losing money long before Apple got onto the scene.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lozza013 Avatar
70 months ago
As much as I enjoy Apple Products and Apple Pay, I tried Apple Music and it didn't work for me. It's Spotify all the way for me.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeltaHF Avatar
70 months ago
I really hope Spotify can stay competitive with Apple in the long run.

I just re-started a trial of Apple Music... I think it was even worse than when I first tried it out at launch.

Spotify all the way, and that's coming from an :apple: fanboy like myself.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
70 months ago
It will be a sad day when Apple puts Spotify out of business by their heavy handed tactics.
Blame Spotify for not having a sustainable business model to begin with if that ever happens.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
iOS 17

28 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in December's iOS 17.2 Update

Friday December 1, 2023 2:57 am PST by
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen three more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 28 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released this December. 1. Help...
anker new xmas 1

Anker's Cyber Week Sale Enters Final Days With Up to 60% Off Sitewide

Friday December 1, 2023 12:05 pm PST by
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you...
iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.1.2 With Security Fixes

Thursday November 30, 2023 10:12 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2, small updates to the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 operating systems that Apple introduced in September. iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2 come a few weeks after the release of iOS 17.1.1, another bug fix update. iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update....
iPhone 16 Mock Header Updated 1

iPhone 16 to Include Action Button Across Entire Lineup

Thursday November 30, 2023 4:08 pm PST by
The release of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max saw the introduction of an entirely new user-configurable button known as the Action button, and now, MacRumors has seen extensive evidence confirming Apple is planning to include the Action button on the entire iPhone 16 range. Designs and plans for the Action button date back to at least 2021, as the button was intended for release alongside hapt...
General Apps Messages

Green Bubbles on iPhone to Gain These 7 New Features Next Year

Thursday November 30, 2023 9:00 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it will finally support RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting later next year. This change will result in several improvements to the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices. RCS will become the new default standard for messaging between iPhones and Android devices, but these conversations will still have green bubbles like...
top stories 2dec2023

Top Stories: iOS 17.1.2 Released, NameDrop Misinformation, and More

Saturday December 2, 2023 6:00 am PST by
Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing. This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership,...