Audio streaming in Germany: Spotify catches up, YouTube stays ahead

YouTube leads, Spotify is close behind

A survey by the ad platform All-Media-Desk, released this week, ranks audio streaming services in Germany. YouTube is first and Spotify is second. The survey did not clearly separate listening on regular YouTube from listening on YouTube Music, which is YouTube's separate music app.

Key numbers

• YouTube: about 35.7 million people listen to audio there every month.
• Spotify: about 30.4 million people use it every month.
• Amazon Music is third with 12.9 million users, less than half the number of the top two.
• Spotify added almost 4 million users in Germany over the past two years.
• YouTube Music lost about 1 million listeners in the same period.

How the survey was done

The research institute Forsa ran the survey for All-Media-Desk, the ad platform that commissioned it. It used an online panel, a group of people who answer questions over the internet. The survey asked people about their listening habits. YouTube had also come first in a survey two years earlier.

Why it matters

Audio streaming is hurting traditional radio. About 13 million users said they listened only to online audio in the past two weeks, up from 8.4 million two years ago. More than 10 million had not turned on a radio in the past month, up from 6.1 million. Spotify has also upset some users. It raised prices for its roughly 300 million subscribers and is strict about family plans for people who do not live in the same home. Many users are also unhappy about a flood of AI-made songs and low pay for musicians. YouTube Music is trying to win paying users by moving song lyrics behind the paywall in the free version.

What to watch

• Whether Spotify passes YouTube in future surveys.
• Whether YouTube Music wins back listeners after hiding lyrics from free users.
• How radio stations respond as more people stream audio instead.
• Whether Spotify's price rises and family-plan rules lead more users to leave.