As Spotify grapples with criticism and litigation over its unprecedented embrace of bundling, another telling stat has emerged: 73% of YouTube Music’s estimated subscribers use plans that are classified as bundles for royalty purposes.

The noteworthy data point is one of several included in DMN Pro’s latest weekly report, which explores the growing significance of bundling in the on-demand streaming arena. Currently, almost all Spotify’s subscriptions are technically bundles in the U.S. thanks to crafty maneuvering centering on an audiobook-only tier.

It’s unclear whether the subsequent addition of a not-so-conspicuous music-only plan will change that by convincing customers to forgo audiobooks in favor of small monthly savings. As things stand, due to the differing ways mechanicals are calculated for bundled and standalone offerings, Spotify is on track to pay a whole lot less to publishers in 2024 and, barring any changes, through 2027.

Spotify’s main competitors – it along with Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music collectively account for the vast majority of music streaming subscribers in the States – haven’t been as brazen in adopting bundles. But as demonstrated by publisher royalty statements shared with and vetted by DMN, they also rely heavily on multi-product packages.

For YouTube Music, the fourth-largest on-demand music platform in the U.S. by paid users, that refers to the estimated 72.99% of subscribers who access the service via a bundled plan.

These bundled plans are YouTube Premium Individual, Family, and Student, with the percentage reflecting DMN Pro’s estimate of actual subscribers. Of course, YouTube Music tracks the latter internally, but they aren’t displayed on royalty statements, which instead identify total accounts. In turn, we can only approximate the number of overall paid users (three per Family plan, for instance).

On the other hand, YouTube Music as of February of 2024 had about 5.05 million accounts classified and paying mechanicals as bundles, DMN Pro’s analysis found. Unsurprisingly, that sum represents most of YouTube Music’s stateside subscriptions – at 70.77% when counting Student and Family subs as one apiece despite their smaller and larger revenue contributions, respectively.

With 83% of American adults reportedly using YouTube proper, it’s evidently easy to upsell customers on ad-free viewing as well as other perks for another $3 per month ($10.99 for YouTube Music Individual compared to $13.99 for YouTube Premium Individual, which includes Music).

The little-discussed data is important on multiple levels. First, the ongoing utilization of bundles to stand out from the highly competitive music streaming crowd is both more extensive than many know and unlikely to go away anytime soon. Still working to close the gap with the market leader, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music aren’t going to abandon their bundles.

Nevertheless, the way mechanical royalties are determined for multi-product plans is all but certain to change under Phonorecords V. With publishers poised to miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars solely due to Spotify’s reclassifications, the NMPA has made clear that it’s digging in for intense Phono V negotiations.

While time will tell the result of those talks, it goes without saying that bundling, and specifically the ability of streaming platforms to dramatically reduce due mechanicals with a unilateral plan-type pivot, is set to be a key focus.