The rise of smart speakers: a comparative analysis of music streaming service adoption and platform interdependencies

This study aims to examine how smart speaker users (e.g. Amazon Echo) access and listen to music. It investigates whether smart speaker manufacturers have a competitive advantage over stand-alone streaming services, potentially positioning themselves as gatekeepers in the music streaming industry. A quasi‑experimental online survey with 1,518 German participants was conducted. After using propensity score matching, the results reveal that smart speakers complement other music playback devices, increasing consumers’ weekly listening. Furthermore, smart speaker users show higher adoption rates for free and paid music streaming services, particularly favoring paid subscriptions offered by the device manufacturers, such as Amazon Music Unlimited and YouTube Music. An additional smart speaker platform analysis reveals strong ties between smart speaker brands and the use of their corresponding streaming services.