The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Spotify, Apple and Amazon

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – May 17, 2021 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Spotify Technology S.A. SPOT, Apple Inc. AAPL and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

How Is Demand for Streaming Aiding the Music Industry?

The global music industry braved the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic last year and grew 7.4%, marking the sixth consecutive year of growth, per a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (“IFPI”). So, what led to this growth in an otherwise tumultuous year that saw live music events being halted?

The answer is music streaming. Notably, the IFPI report stated that total music streaming grew 19.9% and reached $13.4 billion in 2020, accounting for 62.1% of the total global recorded music revenues.

As people were stuck at home for the better part of last year due to pandemic-led social distancing norms, they resorted to several at-home forms of entertainment. While the other areas of at-home entertainment like gaming and binge-watching shows and videos on streaming platforms gathered popularity, music streaming also joined in.

What gives music streaming an edge is the fact that it allows users to listen to a varied library of songs, easily accessible from a smartphone with an Internet connection. Moreover, users have the option to download their favorite songs on their devices in case they have to go somewhere with no access to the Internet.

What’s more is that music streaming services also offer personalized recommendations suited to the user’s moods and listening patterns, thereby allowing them to discover music that might be to their liking. Reflective of these benefits of music streaming, a report from Statista showed that Spotify Technology S.A., which is a major player in the music streaming market, saw its premium subscribers rising to 155 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, from 124 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Streaming Aids U.S. Music Revenue Growth in 2020

The year 2020 turned out fabulous in terms of music in the United States as a report by the Recording Industry Association of America stated that the overall recorded music revenues grew 9.2% in 2020, as mentioned in a Variety article. Moreover, the article mentioned that the overall music industry growth in the United States was supported by the rising popularity of music streaming. Notably, the article stated that music streaming services grew 13.4% last year, contributing $10.1 billion to the overall revenues generated.

Interestingly, 2020 also saw paid subscriptions for on-demand music services in the United States witnessing their highest-ever increase in a single year. The article mentioned that the average number of subscriptions rose to 75.5 million in 2020, from 60.4 million in 2019.

Music Streaming Poised to Grow

Even as we move beyond the pandemic, the popularity of music streaming is not likely to wane. Rather, the conveniences that it provides to listeners should allow it to grow in the future as well.

Notably, a report by Allied Market Research stated that the global online music streaming market is expected to witness a CAGR of 9.8% from 2021 to 2027. Such a positive scenario would bode well for major players in the music streaming industry like Spotify, Apple Inc.’s Apple Music, and Amazon.com, Inc.’s Amazon Music.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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