Among Music Streamers, Spotify Has Edge With Young Adults

As Spotify Technology SA, the world’s biggest on-demand music service, gears up for its listing on the New York Stock Exchange on April 3, the potential bright spot in the money-losing company’s outlook is its attractiveness to young people, according to Morning Consult polling.

In a survey of 2,201 adults conducted March 8-10, a plurality of 30 percent said they had a Pandora Media Inc. subscription, compared to 21 percent who said they subscribe to Spotify and 15 percent who have an Apple Music account. Pandora and Spotify have free and paid subscriptions, while Apple Music has only paying customers.

But among young adults ages 18-29, Spotify and Pandora were about equally favored: 43 percent said they subscribe to Spotify, and 44 percent said they subscribe to Pandora, while 28 percent used Apple Music. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

When the 1,230 people who don’t use a music streaming service were asked which one they would choose if they had to, 51 percent picked Pandora, 28 percent Apple Music and 21 percent Spotify.

But among young adults ages 18-29 who don’t use a music streaming service, a 44 percent plurality said they would choose Spotify, Pandora got 34 percent and Apple Music 22 percent. The margin of error for the subsample is 3 percentage points.