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The number of paid music streaming subscribers hit 100 million in the US for the first time last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

How SiriusXM plans to compete with Spotify: After a failed music streaming venture, the company is reinvesting in its car business.

Most consumers divide their time across gaming, music, podcasts, and social, but streaming remains on top鈥攅ven as mobile becomes the default for short- and long-form video.

The news: The banking sector is evolving towards embedded finance and enhanced data-sharing, allowing customers to access financial products and services from any provider, on any platform. This unbundling trend, driven by fintechs, could marginalize traditional banks. The article draws a parallel to the music industry's digital disruption, where unbundling (like iTunes) and streaming (like Spotify) fundamentally reshaped its value chain. This transformation, catalyzed by companies like Napster, created diverse new models. The opportunity: Similar to how streaming music providers anticipate continued growth, banking customers increasingly seek unbundled services, with fintechs outpacing traditional financial institutions in new checking account openings as consumers hold multiple accounts for specific needs.

The trend: Gen Z is opting out of both traditional pay TV and ad-supported streaming tiers, signaling deeper changes in viewing behavior. Just 42% of Gen Z subscribers use ad-supported SVOD, while less than half of all US households now maintain a pay TV subscription. Our take: Streaming鈥檚 future depends on reaching the next generation, but current models鈥攅specially ad-supported tiers鈥攁ren鈥檛 meeting Gen Z where they are. With only 1.3 hours of streaming and 0.8 hours of traditional TV per day, Gen Z prefers social video, gaming, and music. To stay relevant, platforms must prioritize native formats, interactivity, and creator integration over legacy ad models.

Nintendo鈥檚 moves into music streaming and pricey alarm clocks feel like filler as fans await the overdue Switch 2.

Amazon Music鈥檚 AI push is promising but fumbles the execution: Explore brings deeper fan engagement, but a clunky interface may keep it from stealing share from Spotify or YouTube Music.

The news: The rise of AI-generated music has pushed the music industry to shift from takedowns to traceability. Instead of blocking AI-generated songs like the viral Drake-The Weeknd fake, new systems aim to detect synthetic content at every stage鈥攖raining, production, upload, and distribution. Key takeaway: Advertisers should partner with platforms using AI detection for metadata-tagged AI tracks to ensure brand-safe music placements. Marketers who embrace traceable AI music can stay compliant and transparent while supporting artists鈥� rights and tapping into scalable, brand-safe sound.

TelevisaUnivision is doubling down on young Hispanic audiences: With music festivals, microdramas, and dual-language content built for mobile.

For the most part, that鈥檚 on social media and music streaming apps, but other categories are ripe for targeting, depending on the preferred audience. Marketers may have success reaching Gen Z on gaming and entertainment apps as well. Those are downloaded by 54% and 53%, respectively, of Gen Zers.

Video streaming adoption in Mexico was the highest globally. Some 96.9% of respondents reported using video streaming services. Mexico was also a leader in music streaming at 84.9%. That exceeded the regional average by 4 percentage points. For music streaming, the country ranked No. 3 globally. Mexico led voice assistant usage regionally.

Netflix remains a revenue leader in the streaming space, however tariff concerns and tightening budgets for both consumers and advertisers have increased the pressure across all providers to stand out.

Video and music streaming ranked fairly low in the country. Video streaming penetration was 85.4%, making South Korea No. 41 globally. Music streaming has been adopted by 51.9% of respondents, putting the country at No. 46 globally and well below the regional average of 82.4%. Print readership in South Korea trailed almost every country in the GMI.

Music/audio streaming usage decreased by 6.5 percentage points YoY. Just 66.4% of respondents used music streaming services this year. Time spent with music streaming averaged 1:39 daily, 7 minutes less than the regional average. Egypt's social media usage was also comparatively low at 93.1% of respondents, and it decreased by 0.9 percentage points YoY.

Music/audio streaming adoption in Ireland was exceptionally high at 77.2%, ranking second in Western Europe. This surpassed the regional average of 67.3% by a substantial margin. Daily time spent with music streaming (1:28) was also 12 minutes above the regional average. Ireland had high engagement with digital video content.

Music streaming鈥檚 88.6% penetration rate made China No. 1 in the world. That was a gain of 12.0 percentage points YoY. Respondents were asked if they used a select group of international and domestic services, including KuGou, Kuwo, and QQ Music. The average daily time spent with music streaming was 1:04.

This indicates a preference for a hands-free approach to music streaming鈥攁s opposed to Gen Zers鈥� highly curated one. General podcast adoption grows as video podcasts find their footing with younger listeners. Podcast listening continues to increase across all age groups, according to our forecast.