New York, NY (Top40 Charts) If the ongoing pandemic has shown anything over the past nine or ten months, its that online entertainment is in the strongest position that it has ever been in. Video-on-demand through platforms like Disney+ and Netflix has been dominating the market and as 2021 is set to see Netflix release 70 new titles it shows just how strong things are looking. Online gaming and similar entertainment have become just as big too, betting has found its own foothold at sites such as bettors.ng, as despite the cancellation of sporting events the growth of esports has led to a new betting market with a surge in a new demographic of fans. One of the biggest winners throughout this however has been within music streaming, and Spotify in particular - but how did it become so big?
The answer has always been with ease of accessibility - whilst there has been some criticism over the past few months as rumours of a price hike have been made and seemingly confirmed and changes to the podcasting side of Spotify which suggests another subscription price for podcasts to ensure a way to listen without ads - but the same remains true, a low-cost option that is packed with content and makes alternatives much less appealing when the ease of use of Spotify remains so high. Although other music streaming services have tried to compete with names like Google Play Music (which is now discontinued), the efforts to push YouTube Premium, and others like Tidal, none were able to offer a similar level of both options to listen to alongside the cheaper pricing plans offered by Spotify.
Whilst the biggest success remains within music streaming, there has been a huge surge for podcasting in recent years too - the biggest names are starting to garner a lot of more attention and Spotify were certainly able to show this with the reported $100 million acquisition of the long running Joe Rogan podcast, with this same move to supporting larger podcasts encouraging others to make the change too. As mentioned previously this didn't come without criticism, and has done so ever since too as some have felt that the free speaking approach of the podcast have caused offense and had caused a small outcry of complaints - but had also done little to impact the huge success that the move had brought.
Reports now are showing just how much of a benefit music streaming platforms and Spotify in particular have become to artists and to big talent in the space, particularly throughout the past year as subscriptions have only increased throughout the past year and show no signs of slowing - it's up to Spotify now to ensure that the audience isn't alienated with price increases or platform changes that negatively impact experience, as many that have come before have fallen victim to these same issues and have been unable to recover following the change.
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