For years, the media & entertainment streaming industry has been defined by a simple battle: who has the biggest catalogue. Today, that battle is effectively over. With near-identical libraries across platforms, the new competitive edge is built upon personalisation. This article explores: why personalisation is so important to consumers, the advantages of prioritising personalisation, and how industry leaders are navigating the new competitive landscape.

Due to technological advances, consumers expect streaming platforms to deliver highly personalised viewing and listening experiences. A recent global study by Google found that 81% of viewers expect streaming services to deliver highly personalised experiences — yet 41% of consumers simultaneously reported having no specific programme in mind when they turn on their TV, making discovery-driven personalisation critical. This places significant pressure on streaming platforms to build robust algorithms and recommendation engines based on behavioural patterns. These expectations are particularly high among US consumers: US consumers want the same level of personalisation from streaming platforms that they have come to expect from social media.

Interestingly, according to Salesforce, approximately 75% of surveyed global consumers expected better personalisation when sharing more personal data, and 73% anticipated more personalisation as technology advances. This means that streaming platforms must prioritise collecting the right data to create more memorable experiences for customers. This is why the onboarding process is critical for media & entertainment companies.

Personalisation drives both retention and upgrades: 79% of subscribers kept their subscription after discovering new content via recommendations, and 85% of upgrades to paid tiers were influenced by the ability to find relevant content, as revealed in a recent Harris Poll. Having a strong personalisation engine must be at the core of companies’ growth strategies in the new competitive landscape.

Poor content discovery has a direct financial cost: 48% of respondents have cancelled a streaming subscription because they could not find something to watch, and consumers waste up to three hours a week browsing. According to Deloitte, over half of Gen Z (52%) and Millennials (54%) cancelled at least one paid SVOD service in the prior six months, versus only 21% of Boomers, with younger cohorts citing irrelevant content as a key driver.

A global YouGov study across 17 international markets revealed some compelling insights. 18–24-year-olds are the age group most likely (51%) to view personalised content recommendations positively. On the other hand, consumers aged 55+ are the most likely (20%) to view them negatively. Roughly 70% of Gen Zs and Millennials say they would share their browsing history, purchase data, and app usage in exchange for a more useful, personalised digital experience — a significant data-for-personalisation trade-off most older cohorts are unwilling to make.

Furthermore, Cross-market sentiment varies widely: consumers in India and the UAE lead with 58% viewing personalised recommendations positively, while Danish and German consumers are the least receptive in Europe at only 27%.

Recent industry partnerships highlight the important role artificial intelligence will play in this new competitive field.

Spotify’s integration with OpenAI marks a decisive step in this direction. By enabling conversational music discovery, the platform is transforming how users interact with content. No longer limited to playlists or algorithmic suggestions, listeners can now generate music experiences through natural language—describing moods, activities, or abstract ideas to curate what they hear. This is a fundamental reimagining of the user interface.

Similarly, Spotify’s “Taste Profile” introduces a new layer of control, allowing users to refine or exclude content based on real-time preferences. This reflects a broader trend: users are no longer passive recipients of recommendations—they are active participants in shaping them.

Apple Music, meanwhile, is approaching the same challenge from a different angle. Its integration with TikTok bridges the gap between discovery and consumption, enabling users to move seamlessly from finding a song to listening to it in full. By embedding subscription prompts into this journey, Apple is effectively turning discovery into a direct acquisition channel.

Together, these developments signal that competitive advantage in streaming is no longer about access to music, but about how effectively platforms can understand and anticipate user intent.