{"id":225378,"date":"2025-03-05T14:55:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T14:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=225378"},"modified":"2025-03-05T15:33:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T15:33:18","slug":"youtube-music-hits-125m-paid-subscribers-adding-2m-subs-per-month-on-average-over-the-past-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/youtube-music-hits-125m-paid-subscribers-adding-2m-subs-per-month-on-average-over-the-past-year\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube Music hits 125 million subscribers, adding 2m subs per month on average over the past year"},"content":{"rendered":"MBW\u2019s Stat Of The Week is a series in which we highlight a data point that deserves the attention of the global music industry. Stat Of the Week is supported by\u00a0music data analytics firm\u00a0Chartmetric<\/a>.\r\n\r\n
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Universal Music Group’s Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge confirmed on UMG’s Q3 earnings call<\/a> at the end of October that YouTube Music<\/strong> “has become one of the fastest-growing players in subscription”.<\/p>\n

Now we know exactly how fast.<\/span><\/p>\n

The platform<\/a>, which also operates the TikTok rival Shorts<\/strong>, has<\/span>\u00a0surpassed the significant milestone of\u00a0125 million<\/b>\u00a0paid\u00a0YouTube Music<\/span><\/a> and Premium subscribers worldwide, including trials.<\/p>\n

The milestone means that YouTube added +25 million<\/strong> subscribers over the past 12 months \u2013 which works out to slightly over 2 million<\/strong> subs per month on average \u2013 since its last subscriber announcement<\/a> of 100 million <\/strong>in February 2024.<\/p>\n

(YouTube Music is available as a standalone subscription platform, or bundled into a YouTube Premium subscription.)<\/p>\n

A question the entire music business will likely be asking today, is: How does YouTube’s subscriber growth compare to that of the world’s largest subscription music streaming platform, Spotify<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

In the 12 months to the end of December,<\/a> Spotify added\u00a0+27 million<\/strong> net paying subscribers to reach 263 million<\/strong> paying users.<\/p>\n

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YouTube’s latest subscriber update was revealed by YouTube\u2019s Global Head of Music, Lyor Cohen<\/strong>, in a letter to the music industry today (March 5) celebrating the subscriber milestone and the platform’s 20th anniversary.<\/p>\n

“This year YouTube celebrates its 20th anniversary,” wrote Cohen. “From a simple video, we\u2019ve grown into the largest music stage in the world, reaching over 100 countries in 80 languages. We\u2019ve accomplished so much together over the last 20 years\u2026 but if you think we\u2019re slowing down, you\u2019re dead wrong.”<\/p>\n

\"Lyor<\/figure>

“I\u2019m thrilled to announce that with your partnership, we\u2019ve reached 125 million YouTube Music and Premium subscribers globally, including trials \u2013 an incredible milestone that many laughed off as impossible when we first launched.”<\/p>\n

Lyor Cohen, YouTube<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the letter, Cohen said that 125 million paid subscribers is an “incredible milestone that many laughed off as impossible when we first launched”.<\/span><\/p>\n

He added: “This momentum is critical to our goal of becoming the No.1 contributor of revenue to the industry, and we won\u2019t stop until we get there.” <\/span><\/p>\n

MBW asked Lyor Cohen more about that goal in a wide-ranging interview to follow later.\u00a0 <\/span>YouTube last\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0in September 2022 that it had paid music rightsholders over\u00a0USD $6 billion<\/strong>\u00a0in the 12 months to the end of June 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Elsewhere in today’s letter, Cohen explained how YouTube is “feeding [its] subscriptions funnel”, by expanding\u00a0the platform’s Premium Lite<\/strong> pilot to US users.<\/span><\/p>\n

This lower-priced Premium tier<\/a> lets users watch “most videos on YouTube ad-free,” Cohen explained, “though users may see ads on music content and Shorts, and as they search and browse”.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Premium Lite subscription will cost $7.99<\/strong> per month. A full YouTube Premium subscription costs $13.99<\/strong> per month for an individual plan in the United States. A standalone YouTube Music Premium plan costs $10.99<\/strong> per month.<\/p>\n

Cohen wrote in his letter today that, “Premium Lite can benefit our partners, while giving users more choice”. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to Cohen, in YouTube’s early Premium Lite pilots, the platform “saw that more Lite members upgraded to YouTube Premium than Premium members downgraded to Premium Lite”.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Also in his letter, Cohen said that YouTube’s “commitment to music fans and artists demands we focus on leading the industry in visual storytelling” and predicted the “rebirth of the music video”.<\/p>\n

Said Cohen: “As I look forward, I\u2019m foreseeing a renaissance of the music video. It\u2019s not about having the biggest production budget; it\u2019s about sharing authentic hero content that music fans can\u2019t unsee.<\/p>\n

Cohen also highlighted the potential of AI “to help bring these visual stories to life across all YouTube formats and surfaces”.<\/p>\n

“We also want to make it easier for every artist and fan to create,” said Cohen. “That\u2019s why we\u2019re investing heavily in AI tools like Dream Screen<\/strong> in Shorts which is now powered by Veo 2,<\/a> Google DeepMind\u2019s newest state-of-the-art generative video model”.<\/p>\n

Dream Screen is a feature that lets Shorts users generate AI backgrounds with just a text prompt.<\/p>\n

According to Cohen, “with this new integration, artists and fans can create standalone video clips for their Shorts, broadening the horizons to tell visual stories with music”.<\/p>\n

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Cohen’s letter also pointed to Nielsen rankings, which show that for two consecutive years, YouTube was “the No. 1 streaming platform in watch time in the US, with more than 1 billion hours of content viewed daily on TV sets in the US”.<\/p>\n

Added Cohen: “Our global reach empowers fans to discover new music on Shorts, which now generates over 70 billion daily views, and on connected TVs \u2013 the fastest-growing surface for YouTube and the primary viewing device in the US.<\/p>\n

“The trend of artists delivering premium content directly to the big screen continues to grow, whether through music videos or live performances at iconic events like Coachella.” YouTube’s Global Head of Music noted that more than 50% of Coachella\u2019s live stream viewership in 2024 was on connected TVs. “We\u2019ll build on that momentum next month,” added Cohen.<\/p>\n

He concluded the letter by writing: “I know there\u2019s uncertainty in the world and in our industry, but in my 9 years at YouTube and 40 years in the business, I\u2019ve learned that uncertainty and challenges signal great opportunity. I cannot wait to see what the next 20 years of YouTube holds.”<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/figure>Chartmetric<\/a> is the all-in-one platform for artists and music industry professionals, providing comprehensive streaming, social, and audience data for everyone to create successful careers in music.<\/em><\/span><\/strong>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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