Parks Points

At CES 2017, one of the hottest device categories was intelligent personal assistants. A key function of intelligent personal assistant devices is streaming music and audio, as 27% of those using personal assistant devices are using it at least weekly for streaming music or audio. With Amazon Echo expected to grow in 2017, this will only enhance Amazon’s strong position in the streaming music market.

In 2017, diversification in use of personal assistant software will become more apparent. Use of personal assistant software is overwhelmingly smartphone-based currently, but new smart speakers with intelligent assistants – like Amazon Echo and Google Home – are expanding their use as well. The ability for consumers to simply call out a desired song or artist is a compelling innovation for interfacing with music services.

Innovations in technology are changing music and audio consumption, and personal assistant devices, whether integrated or standalone, serve to enhance the streaming music and audio consumption experience. It is becoming easier every day for someone to get the music or audio content that they want wherever and whenever they want it. Only a generation ago, this was just a dream.