Skip to main content

Spotify says the pandemic has changed how we listen to music and podcasts

Not even your Spotify listening habits are safe from being affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Recommended Videos

The streaming service said it’s seen changes in users’ listening choices since lockdowns to prevent the spread of the disease went into effect, according to a first-quarter earnings report.

The company reported that listening on car, wearable, and web platforms have dropped since the pandemic began — by “double digits” in some cases. Spotify cited changes in commuting as one possible cause of the drop. But listening time through game consoles and televisions rose by 50% for the same time period.

“Every day now looks like the weekend,” the company said as people’s weekday routines are thrown out, changing how and how often people use Spotify. 

This downward trend in use has hit Spotify’s podcasts more than its music section.

“However, listening time around activities like cooking, doing chores, family time, and relaxing at home have each been up double digits over the past few weeks,” the company said.

Spotify also said users are gravitating toward comforting audio that could help manage their stress and anxiety. Two in five Spotify users said they were listening to music more often to manage stress, according to a company survey. The streaming service has seen a jump in searches for “chill” and “instrumental” music, as well as for podcasts about wellness and meditation.

For the first quarter, Spotify reported it reached 130 million subscribers, a 31% bump from the previous year. That spike is consistent with the numbers from other streaming services, like Netflix, as most people have been spending more time at home. 

Markets like Italy and Spain saw declines in listening time as the pandemic ravaged those areas, but Spotify said listening time has rebounded as conditions improved. Though canceled accounts decreased overall in the first quarter, one in six canceled subscriptions cited the pandemic as a reason for doing so in the U.S.,  which has the highest number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Mythili Sampathkumar
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mythili is a freelance journalist based in New York. When not reporting about politics, foreign policy, entertainment, and…
How the 2010s changed music (and listening to it) forever
apple music 20 million now has paying subscribers half that of spotify main

My MP3 collection is better than yours.

The iPod that I stocked was filled to capacity with top-shelf music. Like a goldfish, my collection grew to fill the space that allowed it. It expanded to the edges of the latest version of the iPod, as it gradually grew from 5 GB to 10 to 50 to 120.

Read more
Spotify Wrapped: How to see your top songs and music for 2019
how to find spotify wrapped 2019 consumer pr 01 hmpg topartist

As it has done in the past, Spotify has created Wrapped 2019, a personalized way for Premium subscribers to take a deep dive into the music that shaped their year. With insights on which tracks were your most-streamed, the tool also highlights other cool stats like your favorite artists, albums, podcasts, and how much time you spent listening.

Previous Wrapped features were only available on the web, via a custom website. While it's still available on the web, this year Spotify embedded the Wrapped stats in the Spotify mobile app, making it way easier to find and use. There's also a new feature for folks who love to share: Share cards let you tell the world what you were into for 2019 via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.

Read more
Apple’s next-gen M4 Macs look set to embrace serious gaming
The Mac mini on a wooden table.

Apple’s Mac machines and gaming don’t quite fit in the same equation, even though the recent trajectory of its Metal architecture has pulled off a few surprises. But it looks like the upcoming M4-tier machines won’t pull any punches, including the Mac mini.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes that for the first time, Apple’s entry-level desktop computer will offer ray tracing support. For the unaware, it’s a lighting system that adds a whole new level of visual realism to games.

Read more