Spotify users really do love the service and plan to stay loyal - these stats prove it

Kimberly White/Getty Images

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.

• As Spotify prepares for its debut on the public markets, it got some good news in the form of new consumer survey data from Goodwater Capital.
• Spotify topped rivals such as Apple Music and Pandora in terms of how likely customers were to recommend it to others and to either maintain or increase their usage of the service.
  
• But the survey data also offered some warning signs. It found many consumers use more than one streaming service and Apple and Google have clear advantages over rivals because of their ownership of the two main smartphone operating systems.

It's become a truism that Spotify users really love the music streaming service, but now there's some data to back that up.

Some 92% of Spotify users in the US plan to either keep using the service as much as they are now or actually up their usage, according to a new survey conducted by Goodwater Capital, a venture-capital firm that focuses on consumer technology companies. That made Spotify the highest-rated music service among consumers.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Spotify's service is marked by "undisputed customer love," Goodwater wrote in its report.

Pandora came in second; some 86% of its US users plan to maintain or increase their usage of its service. Amazon was third with 80%, according to the report, which was based on a survey of 3,000 US consumers.

Consumers were also more likely to recommend Spotify to other people than other music services, according to Goodwater. Spotify's Net Promoter Score - which gauges how likely consumers are to recommend a service or product - was 24, the highest in its group.

Among consumers younger than 30 - which represents the core audience for music streaming services, Goodwater found - Spotify's NPS score was 32. Apple Music had the next-highest NPS score in that age group at 15.

But Goodwater's data wasn't entirely positive for Spotify. The most popular music service was actually Pandora, the investment firm found. Over the last year, some 34% to 35% of US consumers had used Pandora; just 21% to 25% had used Spotify.

And many consumers aren't particularly tied to one music service or another, the survey found. Among consumers who had used a streaming music service, 46% listened to more than one.

Meanwhile, Goodwater found that Apple and Google's control over the operating systems that run on nearly all smartphones gave their music services a leg up. Consumers who have devices that run Apple's iOS were six times more likely to use Apple Music than Google Play Music. Conversely, consumers with Android devices were five times more likely to use Google Play Music than Apple Music.

Spotify has had more success reaching Apple device users than those of Android devices, Goodwater found. Some 28% of iOS users are also Spotify users, while 20% of Android device owners use Spotify.

Goodwater's report comes as Spotify is preparing to debut its stock on the public markets. The company, which operates the largest subscription streaming music service but has never posted a profit, is expected to go public on April 3.