Photo Credit: Rifki Kurniawan
According to a new report, the U.S. has added north of 100 million on-demand and non-interactive music subscribers since 2016, with the total having cracked a record high of 130 million during 2025.
That report comes from MusicWatch, which recently released its latest “Annual Music Study.” As in prior years, the decades-running resource produced the subscribership estimates based on the results of a “comprehensive consumer study.”
Of course, a degree of uncertainty is inherent with findings stemming from survey responses. But it’s worth noting, at the top level, that the numbers roughly align with DMN Pro’s own data, which is rooted in hard U.S. subscription figures sourced from a broad range of IP owners, distributors, and rights administrators.
In any event, more data’s always a good thing in the music world. The new study factored for paid users across leading on-demand DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music as well as non-interactive digital radio offerings such as Pandora Plus.
But it didn’t account for those who use Amazon Music Prime or SiriusXM’s core satellite service. All told, then, the study pointed to about 29 million paid subscribers in the U.S. as of 2016 and closer to 130 million paid subscribers as of last year.
As mentioned – and unsurprisingly, streaming plateau or not – the 2025 subscriber sum represents a record high for today’s largest music market. Bigger picture, between Spotify’s price increases and long-discussed plans for a more expensive “Deluxe” tier, it’s hardly a secret that the focus has in many ways switched to enhancing ARPU.
AI is a key component of this approach, complete with a growing collection of machine-powered features on various DSPs. And while streaming platforms have yet to enable authorized AI derivatives and straight creations, Spotify brass previously hinted (including by stressing the perceived catalog-monetization potential) at related discussions.
Time will tell when and whether the tools come to fruition; the available evidence indicates that there still isn’t a major-label consensus on the best approach to AI. Under Robert Kyncl, Warner Music’s embracing the technology through partnerships with the likes of Suno.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sony Music is actively litigating against Udio even after the platform settled with Warner Music and Universal Music.
