Leading Brands in DE's Music & Podcasts Category: Q4 2024 Review

In the dynamic world of music and podcasts, Q4 2024 has witnessed remarkable trends and performances from leading brands like Spotify, YouTube Music, and SoundCloud Limited. By leveraging Sensor Tower’s comprehensive data insights, we delve into the cross-platform behavior of these brands, analyzing their websites and apps to understand audience engagement and advertising strategies.

Spotify

Spotify's digital presence remains robust with its website, spotify.com, and the Spotify: Music and Podcasts app.

• Audience Trends: From Q3 to Q4 2024, spotify.com experienced a significant increase in visits, particularly in November, with visits reaching over 167M. The monthly deduplicated audience remained stable above 20M throughout the quarter, with a slight uptick in December.

• App Engagement: The app maintained a steady monthly active user base, with active users consistently around 15M, peaking in December.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Spotify's advertising strategy saw fluctuating monthly expenditures, with a peak in August at over $860K. Instagram and Snapchat were key channels, delivering significant monthly impressions, especially in August.

YouTube Music

YouTube Music stands out with its website, music.youtube.com, and the YouTube Music app.

• Audience Trends: The website's visits were notable, with a peak in November, reaching over 177M. The monthly deduplicated audience grew steadily, exceeding 6.9M by December.

• App Engagement: The app showed a consistent increase in monthly active users, reaching over 9M by December, indicating a growing preference for mobile access.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Minimal monthly ad spend was observed, with only a small amount allocated to Facebook and Instagram, suggesting a focus on organic growth and integration within the broader YouTube ecosystem.

SoundCloud Limited

SoundCloud's presence is marked by its website, soundcloud.com, and the SoundCloud: Discover New Songs app.

• Audience Trends: The website maintained stable visits, peaking in December with nearly 47M visits. The monthly deduplicated audience remained close to 3.3M throughout the quarter.

• App Engagement: The app saw a slight decline in monthly active users, stabilizing around 3.3M by December.

• Ad Spend & Channels: SoundCloud's monthly ad spend was modest, with consistent investments across Facebook and YouTube, focusing on maintaining visibility and engagement.

Conclusion

Q4 2024 highlighted distinct strategies and outcomes for Spotify, YouTube Music, and SoundCloud Limited. Spotify’s robust advertising and stable audience, YouTube Music’s organic growth, and SoundCloud’s steady presence paint a comprehensive picture of the Music & Podcasts category. Sensor Tower’s unparalleled data insights continue to provide critical understanding of cross-platform user behavior, essential for navigating the competitive landscape.

Explore more with Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics to gain deeper insights into your brand’s performance.