Alphabet (GOOGL) Gears up to Launch a YouTube Music Feature

Alphabet’s GOOGL division Google is bolstering its presence in the music streaming market on the back of updating features on YouTube Music.

Reportedly, the company is testing a feature called Recommended radios, which offers 10 radios with a waveform cover art style featuring the YouTube Music logo.

The radio stations are named either by single band or genre, a decade, or by other descriptions. Users can see the preview of the other artists listed below on the screen.

The new feature comes with the option of “Add to library.” Users can download songs for offline listening.

Notably, a few users have already seen the Recommended radios feature but it is yet to be launched widely.

The latest move bodes well for Google to deliver an enhanced music streaming experience to users.

Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus

 

Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus

Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote

Growing Music Streaming Market

The latest move bodes well for the company’s growing music streaming efforts.

Apart from the latest move, Google recently introduced features and improvements in the search algorithms on YouTube Music. It unveiled a family shelf, namely ‘For the Family,’ to provide a unique experience of family listening. Additionally, it rolled out the Listen Again shelf for smart TVs and gaming consoles, which feature an increased number of results.

The company rolled out the repeat feature in YouTube Music during casting sessions. The feature allows users to repeat whole albums, playlists and individual songs.

With the growing endeavors, Google remains well-poised to rapidly penetrate the booming global music streaming market.

The uninterrupted access to high-quality audio files, without the need for downloading that generally takes up time and phone memory, is a key catalyst.

The growing proliferation of smartphones and the rapid adoption of AI-backed smart speakers are boosting the demand for music streaming services.

Per a report by Grand View Research report, the global music streaming market is expected to see a CAGR of 14.7% between 2022 and 2030.

Per a report from Statista, the market is expected to generate $26.6 billion in revenues in 2022, which is expected to reach $36.3 billion by 2026, witnessing a CAGR of 8.1% between 2022 and 2026.

Further, user penetration in the underlined market is likely to hit 9.4% in 2022 and 12.2% by 2026.

We believe that Google’s growing momentum in such a market is likely to aid Alphabet in winning investors’ confidence in the near term.

Notably, shares of Alphabet have lost 26.1% in the year-to-date period.

Competitive Scenario

Given the upbeat scenario, not only Alphabet but other companies like Amazon AMZN, Apple AAPL and Spotify SPOT are making strong efforts to capitalize on the above-mentioned prospects.

Apple is continuously gaining steam in the underlined market with the expanding Apple Music subscriber base. It offers several songs, with world-class music experts and tastemakers curating thousands of playlists and daily selections.

Additionally, the iPhone maker is benefiting from partnerships. Its tie-up with Verizon has made Apple Music available for free to its customers.

Amazon is enjoying solid momentum across its Amazon Music Unlimited, a premium music subscription service, allowing Prime membership users to stream millions of songs.

The company’s move to integrate artist merchandise into the Amazon Music app remains a major positive. Its Wondery buyout remains noteworthy.

Meanwhile, Spotify, which dominates the music streaming market, is benefiting from premium subscriber growth. Its solid focus on the personalization of playlists enhances the music experience for users.

Additionally, the company’s deep focus on expanding podcast content remains a major positive. The acquisitions of two podcast networks, namely Gimlet and Anchor, remain noteworthy.

Nevertheless, YouTube Music’s user-friendly features are expected to help it give tough competition to its peers.

Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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