Make no mistake, this is a pre-Spotify study, though it does track a total of 18 of services that include Rhapsody, Last.fm, Pandora, Napster, iHeartRadio, MOG, and Blip.fm. Which might be exactly the point: is Spotify fundamentally different than, let's say, Rhapsody—or at least different enough to change an entire population's behavior around on-demand, rental and streaming models? And, so suddenly, after about 10 years of market presence amongst US competitors?
It's a huge question, though Nielsen also found soft spots all around Europe. That is, despite brash claims of dominance by Spotify and its coterie of fawning analysts. In the largest European market of the UK, for example, the active user penetration level was just 5.2 percent, and not growing. And that plateau is happening despite the entrenched presence of players like we7, Last.fm, and Spotify. “Let's not forget that music streaming services are also competing with other sources and channels of music consumption (in the share of consumers' time and money)," Nielsen stated.
Okay, so let's attack the methodology, shall we? The lumped combination of on-demand and free streaming seems odd, as does the critical omission of YouTube. And the all-important percentage of premium, paying subscribers would be nice to know.
Elsewhere, Germany offered similarly lackluster penetration percentages, while France and Spain were consistently dancing in the high teens. Complete report here.
