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Alphabet (GOOGL) to Enhance Music Experience With New Feature

Zacks Equity Research
·4-min read

Alphabet’s GOOGL division Google is leaving no stone unturned to strengthen its music streaming service — YouTube Music — to deliver an enhanced experience.

This is evident from the wide roll-out of the multi-select feature on YouTube Music, which was missing on the app till now.

Users will get an overflow menu of Add to playlist, Play next, and Add to queue on a bottom toolbar with the addition of the multi-select feature. They will also get to see the track length on the right while checking an album or a song.

With these options, users can take bulk actions in one place. This is likely to enhance their music streaming experience.

This, in turn, is likely to drive the user momentum across YouTube Music, which will get reflected in the performance of YouTube in the near term.

Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus

 

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 Alphabet’s growing music streaming efforts.

Apart from the latest move, 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 new feature comes with the option of “Add to library.” Users can download songs for offline listening.

Further, 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 its 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.

Per a report by Grand View Research, 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.

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 24.9% in the year-to-date period.

Intensifying Competition

However, given this upbeat scenario, Alphabet is constantly facing stiff competition from companies like Amazon AMZN and Spotify SPOT.

Amazon is enjoying solid momentum across its Amazon Music Unlimited, a premium music subscription service, allowing Prime members 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.

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

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Investors interested in the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector can consider Aspen Technology AZPN, which currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Aspen technology has returned 25.6% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for AZPN is currently projected at 18.4%.


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