Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is a broadcasting company that provides satellite and online radio services across the United States. The company is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company was formed in 2008 by Martin Rothblatt, David Margolese, and Robert Briskmanas due to the merger between Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, hence, Sirius XM Radio. Here, let’s know about Sirius XM Competitors.
The company owns a 70% equity interest in Sirius XM Canada, which it is affiliated with, equivalent to the same service provided in Canada. It is now also a digital streaming service that streams music. As of April 2021, Sirius XM had around 35 million subscribers. It is now the largest audio entertainment company in North America.
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. faces tough competition in the broadcasting market. The competitors are Sound Cloud, Amazon, iHeartMedia, Spotify, Apple, and Xperi. A comprehensive competitor analysis shall be conducted through the course of this article to display Sirius XM’s position in the market amongst its competitors.
Sirius XM Competition
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. faces tough competition in the market of digital media streaming. An unfortunate outcome is that its competitors are more popular, such as Spotify and Apple Music. Since it is primarily a radio streaming service, it has been overtaken by several competitors solely because radio streaming has become relatively easy. The company has had to mend its ways and diversify its portfolio.
It has entered into the same market that Spotify and Apple Music specializes in, music streaming. That happens to be the more lucrative market right now, with more people preferring to listen to their songs rather than turn on their radio. The only time when radios are used is during short car rides and by the older generation.
- Spotify- Spotify is primarily a music streaming app which offers music from multiple record labels and individual artists. It has gained a lot of traction and has spread worldwide since its inception in 2006. It is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and was founded by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. In the digital streaming market, Spotify controls 32% of the market share globally. This makes it the most influential music streaming service in the world. The company’s valuation is at $43.5 billion, and it has over 158 million premium subscribers as of March 2021. Spotify is a very profitable company, making it hard for Sirius XM to compete in the digital streaming market. Sirius XM’s niche is in the radio streaming market, which Spotify is too. Even though Sirius has a considerable market share in the radio streaming market, it is not a worthy competitor of Spotify.
- Sound Cloud- Sound Cloud also indulges in digital music streaming, but it is different from Spotify because it allows users to record, upload, share and promote content created by them. It was founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss and is currently headquartered in Berlin, Germany. As of March 2021, it is a little bit in excess of 30 million content creators, 265 million tracks, and 175 million monthly listeners. Its valuation currently stands at $700 million. It has gained massive popularity amongst music creators and has helped promote new talent.
- iHeartRadio- this company specializes in the entertainment industry, especially in a radio broadcasts, social and live events, etc. It was founded in 2008 by its parent organization, iHeartMedia, and is headquartered in New York, New York. Its current valuation stands at $2.9 billion. It owns 855 radio stations across the country and has over 110 million listeners every week and 245 million every month. It is the largest radio station group in the country, giving tough competition to Sirius XM.
- Apple Music- developed by Apple, Apple Music is the largest music streaming service in the United States. It also has internet radio stations that broadcast live to over 200 countries. It was launched in 2015, and as of June 2019, it has about 78 million subscribers. It mainly competes with Spotify in this market as it has the second-largest market share in the world. Due to its popularity in the United States, Sirius XM finds it hard to grow past a certain limit.
- Westwood One Inc. – this is an American radio network and is a subsidiary of Cumulus Media and specializes in talks, music, and sports programs. The company was founded in 2006 by its parent company. Since it is a part of the digital streaming service market, it has the potential to compete with Sirius XM. Radio services have not become redundant yet, with multiple people still tuning in to listen to their favorite radio stations.
- Amazon Music- Amazon Music is a company owned by Amazon, and it is a music streaming platform that also provides radio services. It is similar to Spotify with regard to having multiple songs by various artists and labels. It was initially released in 2007 by Amazon. With an Amazon Prime subscription, you get to enjoy all the music and radio content available on this platform. As of January 202, Amazon Music had a subscriber base of 55 million people. It is available in 46 countries worldwide and has a much higher brand value and trust than Sirius XM.
- TuneIn- this company is an audio streaming service that delivers content such as live news, sports, radio, podcasts, and music. It had over 60 million active monthly users, which increased to 75 million in 2019. It was founded in 2002 by Bill Moore. It was initially called Radio Time and was established in Dallas, Texas. Currently, it is based in San Fransisco, California. It allows users to tune in to over 100.000 radio stations globally.
Conclusion
Sirius XM is a common name in the United States. It has a lot of dedicated users and a loyal listening audience. Its annual income has also been on the rise for a while now, but it is to be noted that the increase between 2019 and 2020 was minimal. The competition in the digital streaming market has heightened, with multiple competitors fighting for a sizable market share. Companies like Spotify and Apple music have the most significant market share when it comes to music applications. Since they also provide the option to listen to the radio, this threatens Sirius XM. It needs to focus more on its music streaming platform and expand its influence in the market. It is still the most tuned into radio service, and it can thus take advantage of that to stay alive in a market that is so competitive. For the time being, Sirius XM is safe from the competition, but if it is not able to integrate its company to reach greater heights, very dark times are ahead of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What kind of company is Sirius XM?
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is a broadcasting company that provides satellite and online radio services across the United States.
- Who are the competitors of Sirius XM?
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. faces tough competition in the broadcasting market. The competitors are Sound Cloud, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Music, Xperi, TuneIn, and Wetwood One Inc.
- What is Spotify’s market share?
Spotify controls just about 36% of the market share when it comes to digital streaming services globally.
