Leading Brands in the UK's Music & Podcasts Category: Q4 2024 Analysis

In the vibrant landscape of the UK's Music & Podcasts category, three prominent brands—Spotify, YouTube Music, and SoundCloud Limited—have emerged as leaders in Q4 2024. With extensive reach across their websites and mobile applications, these platforms continue to dominate the market. In this article, we delve into their performance, audience trends, and advertising strategies, leveraging comprehensive data provided by Sensor Tower.

Spotify

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

• Audience Trends: From Q3 to Q4 2024, spotify.com experienced a steady increase in visits, reaching over 227M by December. The monthly true audience consistently remained above 18M, with app-only visitors making up the majority.

• App Engagement: App engagement was strong, with monthly active users surpassing 16M in December, showing a slight upward trend from previous months.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Spotify's monthly advertising spend peaked in December at over $3.6M, with significant impressions on Instagram and Snapchat. This strategic focus on mobile platforms aligns with the app's dominance in audience numbers.

YouTube Music

YouTube Music is accessible through music.youtube.com and the YouTube Music app.

• Audience Trends: The website saw a rise in visits, peaking at over 165M in December. Monthly true audience figures hovered above 5M, with a notable web presence.

• App Engagement: Monthly active users were stable, slightly declining to around 4.7M by December, indicating a balanced web and app user base.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Minimal monthly advertising spend was observed, with a brief spike on Instagram in November, reflecting a strategic focus on organic growth.

SoundCloud Limited

SoundCloud maintains its presence through soundcloud.com and the Soundcloud: The Music You Love app.

• Audience Trends: Website visits remained fairly stable, with a peak of 57M in October. The monthly true audience was consistently over 3.8M, with a significant portion accessing via the app.

• App Engagement: App engagement saw a slight decline, with monthly active users closing the year at around 2.7M.

• Ad Spend & Channels: SoundCloud's advertising strategy included moderate monthly spending, with notable impressions on YouTube, reflecting a diverse channel approach.

Conclusion

The Q4 2024 data underscores the strength of Spotify, YouTube Music, and SoundCloud in the UK's Music & Podcasts category. Each brand showcases unique strengths across web and app platforms, with Spotify leading in app engagement, YouTube Music maintaining a strong web presence, and SoundCloud balancing both. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data insights continue to illuminate these trends, offering unparalleled visibility into cross-platform user behavior and advertising strategies.

For more detailed insights, explore Sensor Tower's Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics offerings.