IFPI 'Music Listening' report shows all demographics embrace music streaming

By Emmanuel Legrand

Music engagement is at an all-time high, according to the 'Music Listening 2019' report, which shows that music listening is up across the board and that an increasing number of older age groups are embracing the streaming revolution.

  The report, published by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, examines the ways in which music consumers aged 16-64 engage with recorded music across 21 countries representing 92.6% of global recorded music market revenues in 2018.

  “This year’s report tells an exciting story of how fans are increasingly engaging with music,” explained IFPI chief executive FrancesMoore. “At a time when multiple forms of media vie for fans’ attention, they are not only choosing to spend more of their time listening to – and engaging with – music but they are doing so in increasingly diverse ways.”

More music consumption

  Some of the trends highlighted in the report include:

> Music consumption is growing, with people spending 18 hours per week listening to music – up from 17.8 hours in 2018. This equates to listening to 52 three-minute songs each day. `

> Audio streaming continues its global expansion, with 64% of all respondents saying they accessed a music streaming service in the previous month, up by about 7% over 2018. The 16-24 that prove to be the main users of music streaming services as 83% of them claim to have sued a service in the past month (with 53% saying they've used a paid streaming service). 

> Older demographics also join to the streaming wave with the 35-64-year-old age group having the highest rate of growth with 54% of that group accessing a music streaming service in the past month (+8% on 2018).

> Radio remains the preferred way to access music content, accounting for 29% of total listening time, ahead of smartphones (27%), computers/laptops (19%). 

> Video is the dominant streaming format, accounting for 47% of on-demand streaming consumption globally (77% of the people surveyed said that used YouTube for accessing music in the past month).

> Smart speakers only account for a 3% share of listening time but the usage is growing with 20% of the respondents claiming to have used smart speakers in the past month. The share rises to 34% in the US, 30% in the UK and 22% in Germany.

> Streaming did not kill piracybut contributed to reduce the previous levels of piracy. However, IFPI noted that “copyright infringement remains a challenge for the music eco-system,” as 27% of all those surveyed used unlicensed methods to listen to or obtain music in the past month, while 23% used illegal stream-ripping services (34% of the 16-24s), which has become the leading form of music piracy. 

Threats to the music eco-system

  For Moore, “The report also highlights that the availability of music through unlicensed methods, or copyright infringement, remains a real threat to the music eco-system. Practices such as stream ripping are still prevalent and return nothing to those who create and invest in music. We continue to coordinate worldwide action to address this.”

  The results are based on an online survey of 34,000 respondents aged 16-64 conducted by by the IFPI and its research partner AudienceNet in April-May 2019 in the following territories: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States. The study was also conducted in China and India but results from these two countries are not included in “global” figures.