The State of Music Monetization: January, 2011...
(#midem) Who's paying for what? We've been getting hit with a lot of subscriber updates here and there, including a few at MidemNet this weekend. So here's the latest monetization intelligence, please share if we've missed something!
(1) Spotify
- Paying Subscribers: 750,000 (per Spotify, shared immediately after Sony Music US signing this month.)
- Subscriber Mix: 90% paying full premiums (source: Digital Music News, citing European partner sources late last year)
- Royalty Payouts: 43 million ($58.5 million) in 2010 (source: Spotify, shared with ballade.no this month).
(2) Rhapsody
- Paying Subscribers: 750,000 (per Rhapsody president John Irwin, January 20th).
- Of note: Increase of 100,000 since April, 2010; RNWK estimates broader US music subscription market at 1.5 million).
(3) Napster
- Paying Subscribers: 760,000 as of Best Buy purchase (May, 2008). (Current number unknown, likely smaller.)
(4) Vodafone UK
- 100,000 paying music subscribers (per Vodafone content services director Lee Epting at MidemNet 2011).
- Of note: Global goal is 1 million by 2012.
(5) Sirius XM Radio
- Paying Subscribers: 20 million+ (per company, threshold accomplished December, 2010)
- Monthly Subscription Cost: $12.95 (or higher)
(6) Nokia's Comes With Music (Closing in Most Countries)
- Paying Subscribers: 107,000 worldwide, 33,000 in UK (Music Ally, July 2009). Now being wound down outside of Asia, Turkey, Brazil, South Africa.
(7) Pandora
- Financial Status: Profitable (as of late-2009, per CEO Tim Westergren)
- Registered users: 65 million (per Westergren, October 2010)
- Active users: 25 million (in September, 2010), average monthly sessions at 11 hours.
(8) Rdio
- Paying Subscribers: Company will not disclose to Digital Music News. No other sources or information at present.
(9) Slacker
- Paying Subscribers: More than 200,000 paying $4-5 monthly (source: Slacker, to Digital Music News late last year)
(10) iTunes
- Paid Song Downloads: 10 billion, cumulative since mid-2003 (source: Apple, reported February, 2010)
- Broader Story: Awaiting updated figures. In the US, a-la-carte downloads gained a modest 1 percent to 1.172 billion in 2010, per Nielsen Soundscan. Digital albums gained 13 percent to 86.3 million. The global picture appears more healthy, though also primed for plateau.
(11) eMusic
- Paying Subscribers: 400,000 (per eMusic to Digital Music News, November 15th).
- Of note: Zero growth since 2007.
