According to recent DMN Pro data, 73% of YouTube Music subscribers access the platform through bundled plans for royalty calculations. This significant statistic emerges as Spotify faces scrutiny over its own bundling practices.

YouTube Music's bundled offerings include YouTube Premium Individual, Family, and Student plans, accounting for approximately 5.05 million accounts as of February 2024. These bundle subscribers represent 70.77% of YouTube Music's U.S. subscriptions, even when counting Student and Family subscriptions as single accounts.

The platform's success with bundling largely stems from YouTube's widespread adoption, with 83% of American adults using the main platform. Users can upgrade from YouTube Music Individual ($10.99) to YouTube Premium Individual ($13.99) to receive ad-free viewing and additional features.

This trend extends beyond YouTube Music, as major streaming platforms increasingly rely on multi-product packages to compete in the market. While Spotify leads with approximately 98% of U.S. subscriptions classified as bundles due to its audiobook integration, other major players like Apple Music and Amazon Music also maintain significant bundled offerings.

The prevalence of bundling has important implications for the music industry, particularly regarding mechanical royalty calculations. With publishers potentially losing hundreds of millions in royalties due to bundle classifications, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) is preparing for intensive negotiations during the upcoming Phonorecords V discussions.

These developments suggest that while bundling strategies are likely to persist, the method for calculating mechanical royalties for multi-product plans may face significant changes in the near future.

Related Articles

Previous Articles