Estimate of most popular music streaming services in the Netherlands 2018

Based on survey results from 2018 and following calculations, Spotify and YouTube were the most popular ways in the Netherlands to stream music. The Swedish music service, however, was used more often as is suggested by the time spent on the platform compared to its competitors. One should note, however, that exact user numbers are rare to find in the Netherlands, as companies usually do not share this information on this specific level. The mentioned numbers in this ranking are therefore estimates, based on the survey methodology of this source. This point is amplified when looking at information from a second source (which used its own methodology). This source predicted that the number of Spotify users in the Netherlands was forecast to reach 6.2 million users in early 2018. Nonetheless, the different methodologies do seem to agree that the Netherlands is a country that favors Spotify more than other music streaming services.

What is the market size of music streaming in the Netherlands?

In 2018 (according to data published in July 2019), music streaming reached its highest ever revenue in the Netherlands. The market size of streaming reached a value of 128.6 million euros that year, an increase of roughly 18 percent compared to 2017. Digital streaming through Spotify and YouTube Music also made much more revenue than other segments of the Dutch music industry, like physical sales (which includes both cd’s as well as vinyl) and digital downloads. The source of this ranking states that Spotify had around three million paid users in the Netherlands in 2018.

The most popular podcast services in the Netherlands

The numbers provided in this ranking do not take podcasts into consideration. As of 2019, podcast platforms in the Netherlands were largely influenced by which type of smartphone was used. Apple Podcasts, for example, comes preinstalled on iOS devices, whereas Android users did not have native podcast support (which meant these users had to download a separate app). Spotify and apps like Overcast were therefore popular choices on Android devices.