A new study by market research agency AudienceNet reveals the changing music consumption habits for traditional broadcast radio and streaming. The Audiomonitor survey also shows some interesting results on listening patterns that will prove happy reading for Spotify execs ahead of a potential IPO and following the recent long-term agreement with Warner Music Group.
While broadcast radio remains the most popular format, younger age groups are less loyal than older listeners. According to the survey, radio accounts for just 10% of listening time for those aged 16-19, compared to a national average of 43%. For the same teenage demographic, streaming accounted for 62% of music consumption, compared to a national average of 24%.
In terms of reach, broadcast radio is fairly constant across age groups – more than three-quarters of those aged 16-24 listened for at least five minutes over a seven-day period.
The study also shows the influence of playlists among younger listeners in terms of music consumption. Among those aged 16-24, playlists accounted for considerably more listening time than albums. For 16-19 year olds, playlists had a 35% share of listening, compared with 20% for albums and 45% for individual tracks. Album listening shares grew as respondents got older, peaking at 41% among those aged over 65.
Despite the higher weekly penetration of YouTube compared to Spotify, the study shows the Swedish-based streaming service is winning hearts and minds among the younger generation. Around 51% of 16-19 year-olds’ on-demand streaming time was dedicated to Spotify, compared to 33% for YouTube. The study also suggested that approximately 30% of all music listening among that age group was dedicated to Spotify alone.
Across the total sample, YouTube has a higher weekly reach than Spotify (31% compared to 16%) but the rival platforms’ share of overall listening was similar, which indicates that Spotify users spend more time listening than people do on YouTube.
The findings are based on a June 2017 survey of a representative sample of 3,010 UK respondents.
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