The commercial potential of music streaming is steadily rising worldwide.

In 2020 alone, the IFPI announced that music streaming generated US$13.4 billion; that’s 62.1% of global revenue from recorded music that year.

In addition to standalone streaming services and telcos with built-in streaming apps, music is also increasingly being integrated into different verticals such as gaming, fitness and social media.

These developments make music streaming a potentially lucrative opportunity – not just for mainstream international services such as Spotify and Apple Music, but also for niche services in emerging markets where there’s still a lot of room for growth.

Music streaming may be a global phenomenon, but regionality still matters, and the demand for localised services is higher than ever.

I recently spoke with Tuned Global’s Chief Revenue Officer, Spiro Arkoudis, about the challenges and opportunities of launching streaming services in emerging markets. He shared some of Tuned Global’s insights from working in different regions across the globe.

Musically recently published this report about the Chilean music market. Chile’s recorded music Market gained its 11th straight year of growth in 2020, according to local Music Ally sources, helping to cement its place as one of Latin America’s most vibrant digital music industries.

While Chile took to streaming relatively late, this industry is performing well with a 56.2% income growth in 2020.

The leading digital music services in Chile are Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube Music. But March 2021 saw the launch of a new competitor called PortalDisc, the first 100% Chilean music streaming service.

A very young population, a smartphone rate that is exploding, and an undeniable musical wealth: Africa has never been so courted, even in small French-speaking countries where major labels are coming, to invest in streaming.

The time when pirate tapes and CDs were sold in the street under photocopied packaging is gone! Listening to online music and the arrival of the 3G connection in capital cities is changing everything.

"Everyone knows that the market will explode. There is talk of $80 million for the streaming market in 2020 in Nigeria", says Jean-Noel Tronc, from SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music) in France.

With a population of over 250 million, big companies have their eyes set on Indonesia.

Statistics show that the total number of mobile phone users for 2017 is expected to rise to a whopping 173 million, making this country an attractive territory for mobile marketing.  

But while Indonesia is a promising market because of the density of its consumers on mobile, geography is a hurdle for all marketers.

With over 17,000 islands and more than 726 dialects spoken across the archipelago, how can brands reach this seemingly fragmented audience?

When it comes to the best brand experience, a few companies stand out from the crowd.

These companies maintain several elements to engage and interact with their audience.

For many big name brands, music is one of the most diverse, useful elements that build the best brand experience for their customers.

According to the IFPI Global Music Report (2016) “The global music market achieved a key milestone in 2015 when digital became the primary revenue stream for recorded music, overtaking sales of physical formats for the first time.”

If the report tells us anything, it’s that Millennials place a lot of importance on their ability to access new music, even if it’s as a part of a brand experience.

But who are the companies that use digital music as part of their brand experience strategy?

Brands need to consider digital music as a key part of their content marketing strategies, in order to deeply connect with their customers and build loyal relationships by offering positive experiences through music.

Today’s marketers are astutely aware of the vast changes in digital music consumption with 67% of music consumers now listening to music online according to the 2014 Nielsen Music Report.

While Edison’s ‘Share of Ear’ study said that people spend an average of four hours and five minutes each day consuming audio, meaning music is their top form of entertainment.