Around 90% of the population in the Nordics stream music, but only 43% are premium subscribers.
That’s according to The Polaris Nordic Digital Music Survey 2018, which was carried out by three Nordic collecting societies Koda (Denmark), Teosto (Finland) and TONO (Norway).
Free services dominate online music use in the region, according to the survey.
YouTube is the most popular streaming service in region with 74% of the population using it to stream music, followed by Spotify, which is used by 54% of the population.
Although the majority of inhabitants in the Nordic countries now use streaming services, 47% are using free or trial versions only.
The remaining 43% are premium subscribers or are paying for music through a bundled service.
Looking at each country individually, 51% and 50% of Sweden and Norway’s consumers have a paid subscription respectively, while in Denmark it is 46% and in Finland it’s 26%.
“The recent explosion in digital music consumption is a very positive thing: it testifies to how the legal and well-functioning streaming services are easily available and accessible and have become part of everyday life,” said Anders Lassen, CEO of KODA.
“However, the number of people who use free services are, sadly, significant.”
“We are happy to see that more and more people are choosing paid premium subscriptions, but the ‘transfer of value’ problem still needs fixing.”
Risto Salminen, Teosto
Risto Salminen, CEO of Teosto added: “We are happy to see that more and more people are choosing paid premium subscriptions, but the “transfer of value” problem still needs fixing.
“Social media is also widely used for music consumption.
“It is necessary that online services, which use music as a part of their business, pay a share of their revenue to the creators of the music.”
“We are pleased to see that so many people in the Nordics now prefer the premium subscriptions.”
Cato Strøm, TONO
Cato Strøm, CEO of TONO said: “Streaming services are still growing, and music is more easily available than ever before.
“We are pleased to see that so many people in the Nordics now prefer the premium subscriptions, and that they are happy to pay for their music consumption.
“However, the free services are still widely used, which makes it difficult for songwriters to make a decent living from music creation.
“We are particularly upset about the large use of music on Facebook not contributing to the livelihood for the songwriters.”Music Business Worldwide
