Music platforms in APAC dance to the sound of their own drums
A look at the most popular platforms across APAC's leading music streaming markets is a good indicator of the general streaming situation in the region. As with other digital industries, China boasts a unique landscape of national music platforms, most prominently three music apps from Tencent. By contrast, Japan and South Korea are more representative of the overall region, displaying an array of international providers like Spotify and Apple Music next to local ones like LINE Music in Japan and Melon in South Korea.In many markets, especially in South and Southeast Asia, local platforms profit from music catalogs highly representative of their respective audience's cultures and languages. India's largest music platform, Tencent-backed Gaana, offers songs in 21 of the country's languages. At the same time, local providers are generally available at lower price points than their international competitors. Gaana previously offered an ad-supported freemium service to users but switched to premium-only in September 2022. Upon market entry, companies like Spotify often address local consumer needs by providing shorter plans, such as daily or weekly subscriptions. However, a substantial number of APAC consumers still turn to free and ad-based platforms such as YouTube for their music listening. The platform has over one billion users in the region.
VOD in APAC is fiercely contested yet largely untapped
The video streaming market in the Asia-Pacific region is similarly diverse and competitive to its music counterpart. When entering APAC's subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market, global industry leaders like Netflix and Disney often work with regional players to provide subscribers with more localized content. Thus, Netflix has collaborated with Indonesia's Ministry of Education and Culture to involve Indonesian filmmakers in the production of Netflix original movies and TV shows. Moreover, Disney+ has acquired Indian platform Hotstar, thereby securing streaming rights for the country's highly popular cricket league. Like Spotify's sachet pricing, video streaming platforms are finding diverse ways to accommodate APAC users. Some are working with regional telco companies to have their subscriptions embedded into the telco provider's mobile plans. Others are employing lower-priced subscription tiers that may feature some ads. Netflix also comes at different monthly fees across the region.As only Japan and Australia rank within the global top 10 in terms of VOD penetration, the video-on-demand industry still has a huge untapped market to develop in the Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, it remains to be seen how both local and international video streaming services will navigate the industry in the long run and which services will stand the test of time. Fueled by its successful localization efforts, Disney+ is currently on track to becoming the most subscribed-to platform in APAC by 2026.
